The banh mi handbook

What it is

Andrea Nguyen, the Vietnam-born, James Beard Award-winning authority on Vietnamese cooking, devotes a whole book to the banh mi. More than 50 recipes cover the fillings, punchy homemade condiments, and bright pickled vegetables, from grilled lemongrass pork to coconut curry tofu, that make the sandwich sing. Named one of NPR's Best Cookbooks of 2014.