THE FLAVORS OF VIETNAM FRESH HERBS, UNIQUE SAUCES BRING SOUTHEAST ASIA TO YOUR KITCHEN.

Byline: Natalie Haughton Food Editor

As Vietnam flourishes as a tourist destination, Americans are increasingly embracing the country's cuisine here in the U.S., with all its hallmarks. Those include rice, fish sauce, fresh herbs, lemongrass, ginger, chiles, limes, fish, pork, bittersweet caramel sauce and coconut milk. A trio of new cookbooks offers timely insights into the culture, traditions and tastes of Vietnam. And each has a different take.

``From its craggy northernmost border with China to the lush paddy fields and coconut plantations of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam nurtures an extraordinary cuisine,'' writes Nancie McDermott in her sixth and latest cookbook ``Quick & Easy Vietnamese: 75 Everyday Recipes'' (Chronicle Books; $19.95), geared to cooks who want a taste of the cuisine with little time in the kitchen.

``The cuisine of Vietnam, with its refreshing flavors, varied textures and vibrant colors, intrigues, beguiles and charms,'' notes Andrea Nguyen, in ``Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors,'' (Ten Speed Press; $35), with more than 175 recipes and 50 color photos. The volume delves into the cultural and traditional aspects of the cuisine.

Ann Le of Silver Lake is devoted to dymystifying Vietnamese food in her ``The Little Saigon Cookbook: Vietnamese Cuisine and Culture in Southern California's Little Saigon'' (Insiders' Guide; $15.95). ``It seems that people are afraid of it because of all the complex tastes, but it's really quite simple and not difficult to make at home. I've made a point of not making a whole laundry list of ingredients,'' she adds, noting that the recipes, compiled from family, friends and restaurateurs, are meant to be authentic and have not been altered much.

``This is the food I knew and grew up with in Westminister in Little Saigon,'' says the 28-year-old investment banker who was born in Minneapolis, after her parents escaped Vietnam as boat people three days before the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Vietnamese food is not nearly as hot and spicy as Thai, and it has a delicate quality, with fresh and bright flavors, says McDermott. Unseasoned rice anchors the food. And noodles rule. Soup is a mainstay served alongside rice (Nguyen favors Golden Phoenix jasmine rice) and other dishes.

``Raw fresh herbs (cilantro, red perilla, Thai basil, mint, Vietnamese coriander and more) are usually consumed as accompaniments to foods, rather than in cooking, a custom that distinguishes Vietnam from its Asian neighbors,'' notes Nguyen.

Vietnam's cooking techniques tend to be straightforward and easily translated to a Western kitchen, says McDermott, adding that the ingredients are easy to come by these days in the West in supermarkets, health food stores and Asian markets.

Foods are mostly steamed or braised in their own marinades or juices, sauteed, lightly fried and sometimes grilled -- and very little oil or animal fats are used.

Cooking with bittersweet caramel sauce (kho) along with clay pot cooking, stir-frying, fresh salads (green papaya, cucumbers, cabbage, banana blossoms) and noodle preparations (in soups, salads and stir-fries) are also popular, says Nguyen.

``It's very much a have-it-your-way cuisine,'' she continues, adding that ``you get to tinker with every mouthful of food at the table. It is a cuisine of parameters and not so much a cuisine of rules.

``Fish sauce (nuoc mam), an amber red, salty liquid, is a keystone of Vietnamese cooking.'' It can be sprinkled on rice or salads, mixed with other ingredients for dipping sauces or used in cooking for flavor. Made from salting and fermenting fish (usually anchovies), fish sauce usually smells stronger than it actually tastes, advises Nguyen.

Opt for those made in the Vietnamese style, because Thai fish sauces tend to be heavier. Labels that have cot, nhi or thuong hang in their names signal premium products. Nguyen favors using Viet Huong's Three Crabs in her recipes.

If you detect a fishy, overly pungent and salty flavor in finished dishes, you may be using too much, advises Le.

Versatile dipping sauces like nuoc cham -- commonly made with lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and a little water and chiles or garlic, if desired -- are also popular and served with everything.

Nguyen, a native of Vietnam, who was 6 years old when she fled Saigon with her parents and four siblings a few days before it fell to the communist north in 1975, grew up in San Clemente eating traditional Vietnamese food. ``It was a way for my parents to make sure we held on to our ethnic heritage.''

``My mother is an excellent cook,'' who escaped with few possessions, ``except a small orange notebook of recipes that she brought to this country in case she opened a restaurant,'' says Nguyen, whose mother gifted it the precious tome to her when she began writing the book.

Le grew up eating Vietnamese food out often because her parents worked and didn't have time to cook. ``For $8, you could feed a family of four comfort food in the early '80s at a small neighborhood eatery (often in private homes) in Little Saigon.'' Although McDermott, a native of North Carolina, hasn't been to Vietnam, she's traveled extensively throughout Asia, and lived in both Thailand and Japan. Thailand and Vietnam have the same universe of ingredients, she says.

She presents both traditional recipes that are intrinsically fast and simple (Shaking Beef), as well as streamlined versions of dishes that are inaccessible in their traditional versions (shrimp in caramel sauce, which she has revamped as a stir-fry) for those who have limited time to cook. ``If people are looking for an invitation to come in and try Vietnamese food and bring it home to their kitchen and their table, that's what I want to do. I want people to cook this food.''

Natalie Haughton, [phone]

natalie.haughton(at)dailynews.com

EGG, SHRIMP AND GREEN ONION PANCAKES

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled

Salt

5 eggs, beaten

2 green onions, white and green parts, chopped

Canola OR other neutral oil for frying

Fish sauce OR light (regular) soy sauce for serving

Refresh shrimp by putting in a colander and tossing with a liberal amount of salt. Rinse immediately under cold water and press gently to drain well. Put shrimp in a bowl, add eggs and green onions and mix well.

Put enough oil into a large nonstick skillet to coat bottom thinly. Place over medium heat and heat until a drop of egg immediately sizzles and bubbles upon contact with oil. To make each pancake, ladle about 2 tablespoons egg mixture into skillet, making sure that a few shrimp are included in each portion, and then quickly nudge shrimp in each pool of egg so they don't overlap. Fry only as many pancakes at once as will fit without crowding, about 3 pancakes at a time, in a 12-inch skillet. Don't worry about the shape each one takes, as they are meant to be free-form. When the edges of a pancake are set and lightly browned, after about 2 minutes, use a spatula to turn carefully. (If the pancakes have stuck together, use spatula to separate before flipping.) Fry another 30 seconds to 1 minute, until browned on the second side. Transfer finished pancakes to a plate and keep warm while you fry the rest.

Arrange pancakes on 2 plates or a platter and serve with fish sauce for dipping.

Makes 4 to 6 servings with 2 or 3 other dishes

From ``Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors,'' by Andrea Nguyen.

WARM `SHAKING BEEF' SALAD WITH WATERCRESS AND TOMATOES

1 pound beef (filet OR sirloin)

5 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup fish sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 bunch watercress, stems removed, approximately 3 cups

2 large onions, quartered and separated

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 teaspoon cold water

2 large tomatoes, each cut into 6 wedges

Slice beef into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Prepare marinade in a bowl or container with a lid by combining 2 tablespoons oil, fish sauce, salt, black pepper, oyster sauce, garlic and sugar. Mix well until sugar is dissolved, then add beef cubes. Cover bowl or container and shake cubes to evenly coat meat (or you can simply stir). Leave cover on and let container stand 20 minutes on counter. Clean watercress and arrange it on a large serving platter or dish.

In a large skillet, heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil over high heat. When hot, add onions. Saute for just a few minutes, then add beef with its marinade and toss quickly. You need to cook only 5 minutes over medium heat for meat to be medium rare; continue tossing as it cooks. Cook it longer if you prefer. When meat is cooked, stir in cornstarch mixture; cooking, stirring until sauce clears and thickens. Spoon meat onto watercress, add tomato wedges and pour on cooking juices (as much as you wish). Serve family-style with hot steamed rice.

Makes 6 servings

From ``The Little Saigon Cookbook: Vietnamese Cuisine and Culture in Southern California's Little Saigon,'' by Ann Le.

CHICKEN AND CABBAGE SALAD WITH FRESH MINT

1 pound boneless chicken breast OR 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon white OR cider vinegar OR freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3/4 cup very thinly sliced onion

1/2 cup fresh mint, cilantro OR basil leaves

1/2 cup rau ram leaves (a Vietnamese herb; optional)

2 cups finely shredded green, savoy OR napa cabbage

3/4 cup shredded carrots

3 tablespoons coarsely chopped roasted and salted peanuts (optional)

Put chicken breasts in a medium saucepan and add 2 to 3 cups water, enough to cover chicken by about 1/2 inch. Bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat to maintain a lively simmer and cook until done, 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine lime juice, fish sauce, vinegar, sugar and pepper in a medium bowl and stir to dissolve sugar and mix everything well. Add onion and toss to coat. Set aside 20 to 30 minutes, until you are ready to complete the dish.

Transfer chicken to a plate to cool, reserving broth for another use, such as making soup OR cooking rice. When chicken is cool, tear it into long, thin shreds. Coarsely chop mint and rau ram, if using. Add shredded chicken, cabbage, carrots, mint and rau ram to the bowl of onions and seasonings and toss to coat everything well. Mound salad on a serving plate and top with chopped peanuts, if using. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

From ``Quick & Easy Vietnamese: 75 Everyday Recipes,'' by Nancie McDermott.

HERB NOODLE SALAD

1/2 pound (approximately 2 small packages) rice vermicelli

3/4 cup fresh mung bean sprouts

1/2 cup julienned cucumber

1/2 cup shredded fresh Vietnamese coriander leaves

1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh mint OR peppermint leaves

1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh Thai basil leaves

2 green onions, chopped into rings

1/4 cup fried sliced garlic

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup crushed unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

1/3 cup Dipping Sauce (nuoc cham)

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a rolling boil. Turn off pot and add vermicelli noodles. Thin rice noodles cook very quickly, so let them sit in the hot water about 2 to 4 minutes, until tender. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside to cool in a colander.

Divide noodles into 4 bowls. Put 1/4 of bean sprouts, cucumber, coriander leaves, mint, cilantro and Thai basil on top of each serving of noodles. You can either pile them on top of each other or separate them. Garnish bowls with green onions, fried garlic, black pepper and peanuts, and any other toppings you wish. Before serving, pour dipping sauce over each serving and toss before eating.

Makes 4 servings

DIPPING SAUCE

(Nuoc Cham)

Get used to this dipping sauce. It is served with everything. In almost every Vietnamese home, there is a container of nuoc cham sitting in the refrigerator and a bowl of it on the table.

1/2 fresh Thai bird chile, finely chopped into rings, seeds included

8 tablespoons warm water

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons fish sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Make sure sugar is completely dissolved. Leave bowl at room temperature several hours before serving. The longer you let the ingredients marinate, the more flavor the sauce will have. If you will not be using the sauce within several hours, refrigerate it. Bring back to room temperature before serving.

Makes 1 cup

From ``The Little Saigon Cookbook: Vietnamese Cuisine and Culture in Southern California's Little Saigon,'' by Ann Le.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Cooler than you think

Vietnamese food is hot - but not that spicy

(2 -- color) Ann Le, now of Silver Lake, grew up on the Vietnamese comfort food in Westminster's Little Saigon.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

(3 -- 5 -- color) Chicken and Cabbage Salad With Fresh Mint, left, is one of many Vietnamese dishes enhanced with herbs. Top, in Vietnamese tradition, herbs are often consumed raw -- and separate from the dishes they accompany. Above, mandarin sorbet can be prepared with a home ice cream maker.

(6 -- color) EGG, SHRIMP AND GREEN ONION PANCAKES

Photo by Caren Alpert from ``Quick & Easy Vietnamese,'' Chronicle Books

Photo by Leigh Beisch from ``Into the Vietnamese Kitchen,'' Ten Speed Press