Because of its cheaper cost in Vietnam arrowroot is more popular than cornstarch (cornflour) for thickening sauces. Unlike cornstarch, arrowroot thins after boiling.
 

Bean sauce (bean paste) (tuong) commercial Fermented soybeans ground with water, salt and roasted rice powder. Look for a Vietnamese or Thai brand, as Chinese varities are sweetened. Alternatively, use whole brown soybeans in brine, drained and mashed to paste; do not confuse with Chinese fermented black beans, or recipe.

Dried beans, often served sweetened are much smaller than Western pulses: black beans and green mung beans are about the size of standard lentils, black-eyed peas (beans) only slightly larger. Substitute dried azuki beans or Indian pulses, such as black gram.
 

Asian chili sauces, such as Vietnamese or Thai, are slightly thick, bright orange-red in color, and made with crushed chilies, vinegar, garlic and sugar. Chili sauce is a standard table condiment in Vietnam, both in soup and with grilled meats. Do not substitute Tabasco, unless you decrease its quantity to a few drops.

Made from the fermented extract of salted small fish, or sprats, naturally brewed, acrid-smelling fish sauce is the mainstay of Vietnames cookery. It is used both in the kitchen and as a table condiment, especially when diluted and combined, variously with lemon, chilies and sugar to make the ubiquitous nuoc cham dipping sauce. Vietnames-and Thai-style fish sauces differ slightly.

The principal rice used in Vietnames cuisine is long-grain iasmine rice (gau tam thom), although sticky (glutinous) rice (gao nep/xoi) is also popular. Rice is the mainstay of the Vietnamese diet, and no meal is complete without its prensence, either as rice noodles or steamed grain. (See Glossary, page 123.)

Various varieties of Asian rice starch (which, confusingly, may be labeled “rice flour”) are made from the amylase, or soluble portion, of both sticky (glutinous) and standard white rice.
Unlike ground rice flour, rice starch feels silky to the touch. Bot gao te/bot be tinh khiet, made from standard white, long-grain rice, is the basis for batters like ban xeo crepes. Bot gao nep, or sticky (glutinous) rice flour, is the base for a myriad of dumplings, cakes and doungs; do not use to thicken sauces. (See also page 97.)
 

 Although they differ in thickness, northern Vietnam’s mam ruoc anb its southern couterpart, mam tom, differ in thickness. Both are extremely pungent. Substitute a premium Chinese shrimp sauce or Western anchovy paste.

Large oval pods, about i inch (2.5 cm) long, with a ridged brown exterior, tasting slightly of camphor. Use whole to flavor soups, such as pho. Known also as “bastard” cardomon. Crush lightly to expose its sticky black seeds, adding both pod ans seeds to soups and marinades. Remove the pod when grinding with other spices. Do not confuse with the miniature, Chinese-lantern-shaped cardamom pods used in Indian cooking