Cooking Vietnamese cuisine does not require complicated kitchen tools. I’ve put together a list of my essential kitchen tools for you below. These are the tools that I use everyday.
- Rice cooker
- Dutch oven
- Meat tenderizer
- Pressure cooker
- Cooking chopsticks
- Pot with steamer basket
- Zwilling J.A. Henckels Professional S, Chinese Chef Knife
Rice cooker
Growing up in Vietnam, a rice cooker, is a must-have. In the words of my grandfather “A meal without rice isn’t a proper meal”. I’ve had my Black & Decker rice cooker for I don’t know how long…I’d say for a good 10 plus years, and it’s still going strong. Knock on wood 🙂 The rice cooker is nothing fancy. It only has two buttons, ‘cook’ and ‘warm’. Basically, I put the rice in, it cooks it and then keeps it warm for me. That’s it. Plain, simple and cost effective. Having a rice cooker is a must for making perfect Jasmine rice. Why? Because when you make rice on the stove top, you have to keep track of when it’s done cooking to prevent getting burnt, crunchy rice on the bottom of the pot. Using the rice cooker takes the guess work out of it, giving you perfectly cooked rice every time. Check out my technique for making perfect Jasmine rice.
Dutch oven
I love my Dutch oven. I use it especially when I need to make things like bò kho (Vietnamese beef stew) because I can add all the ingredients and close the lid and leave it to simmer. The beauty about this is that it doesn’t spit liquid everywhere. You know when you close the lid to some pots and you come back to liquid being scattered around your stove top because there’s not a tight seal around the pot? No thank you.
To me, it’s like a slow cooker but it can go from the stove top to the oven for convenience. Love that!! Here are a list of dishes I’ve made so far using the Dutch oven:
Meat tenderizer
Many Vietnamese recipes call for fresh lemon grass for making the broth or marinating the meat. While you can definitely purchase pre-minced lemon grass for the marinade, you can also make your own minced lemon grass. As for using fresh lemon grass for the broth, it’s best to ‘tenderize’ it before using. This helps release the flavors into the broth. I also love using this tool to smash garlic cloves.
Before Christmas, I was improvising with using the rolling pin to ‘tenderize’ the fresh lemon grass stalks. Although it worked, using the meat tenderizer is better. So ask and you shall receive. Santa finally brought me a meat tenderizer to tenderize the fresh lemon grass stalks. In the words of my toddler “Mom, if you ever need something, just ask Santa because it’s free” 🤣 Oh, how I love toddler logic.
Pressure cooker
Thanks to my mother, she gave me a pressure cooker for Christmas this year. It has been so useful and allows me to whip up a meal in a pinch. I find it especially helpful when it comes to making Vietnamese dessert dishes that involves beans, because it cuts the cooking time down dramatically. Or when I have a phở gà (Vietnamese chicken noodle soup) craving, I can whip it up in 30 minutes.
Cooking chopsticks
Did you know there are ‘cooking chopsticks‘? Yes, yes there are. These chopsticks are different from the normal eating chopsticks because they are longer. Of course, they can be more difficult to use, especially if you’re not used to using them. I like them because it allows me to add or remove ingredients from the pan that I otherwise cannot do (easily) if I’m using a spatula.
Deep pot with steamer basket
Every kitchen must have a deep pot with a steamer basket. It’s useful for frying foods like egg rolls, boiling those rice noodles for phở (Vietnamese noodle soup), making xôi vò (steamed sticky rice and mung beans) or putting together a big pot of cà ri gà (chicken curry).
Chef knife
I cannot stress the importance of having a comfortable and sharp knife in the kitchen. I’ve used many many knifes in the past but none have been as comfortable as the Zwilling J.A. Henckels Professional Chef Knife. This is my go-to knife for everything. From chopping vegetables to cutting meat.
So there you have it. These are my essential kitchen tools. Do you have a favorite kitchen equipment or tool? Leave me a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you like this post, feel free to share it on Facebook by using the button below.
