Christine tells a story with most of her recipes. The food she ate while backpacking in Europe, how she spent summer breaks surviving on sour cream & onion chips, and her parents (like so many) bribed her with pizza. She gives us Vietnamese dishes she grew up on, and explains to us why our fried rice is never quite as good as what we get from takeout. She recreates her late mothers dishes from memory, because she never thought to get those recipes while she was still alive. Nothing is written down. There's the ultra-simple but delicious Sunnyside Up Eggs with Toast, Clay Pot Catfish, and the egg rolls she grew up watching her mother make for all occasions. Her mom would even change the filling based on the audience, like when she used ground turkey instead of pork so Christine's Muslim classmates could enjoy them.
This book is full of memories from home, but also the food she yearned for that all her friends were eating. Like meatloaf, chicken pot pie, penne with vodka, and chicken tikka masala.
I love the variety in this book. It really is true to the title of "Asian and American Comfort Food". Even if you don't make any of the recipes in this book, it's a good one to read. If you think you can't cook, read a cookbook written by a blind chef. She might just be able to give you the confidence to try something new!
