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In my house, seasoning is always a huge part of any meal. And, while I can always count on the tried-and-true spices I grew up with and keep in my spice cabinet at all times (garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, crushed red pepper, saz\u00f3n<\/a>, and Italian seasoning, to name a few) I love trying out new ones and cooking with new flavors. Unfortunately, you can exhaust your average supermarket\u2019s spice selection pretty quickly, and sometimes, finding a particular spice or herb can be difficult, depending on where you live and what markets you have access to. Thankfully, there are a ton of great online spice shops<\/a> that let you bring flavors and aromas from all over the world right into your kitchen at home. I recently got the opportunity to try out some spices from V\u00e2n V\u00e2n<\/a>, an online purveyor of single-origin spices and herbs sourced from different growing regions around Vietnam, and I can\u2019t stop raving about it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Started in the summer of 2022 by founders Th\u1ea3o and Duy \u2014 who have a background running popular cooking pop-ups and pick-ups \u2014 V\u00e2n V\u00e2n has a foundation rooted in Vietnamese home cooking, history, and culture, with a mission to \u201cinvest in local growers and support their livelihoods by paying a fair price for their products,\u201d according to their website. By partnering with small growers, the brand aims to put premium Vietnamese products<\/a> on center stage and showcase the country\u2019s diverse flavors. V\u00e2n V\u00e2n offers a collection of unique herbs and spices that are available a la carte or as bundles. (They have some pretty cool merch, too.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n I live in New York City, and even with access to tons of high-quality markets around town, it\u2019s tough to find many of these spices in my local supermarket, and even if I could, the fresh versions would probably go bad before I could use them all. The best part about V\u00e2n V\u00e2n is that the spices and herbs come dehydrated, so when you want to use them, you can just soak them in water for a minute or two and they\u2019re good to go! The Bundle of Flavors<\/a> collection (which I tested) includes Northern Mountain Garlic, Delta Lemongrass, Sparrow Ginger, Coastal purple shallot, and Heaven Facing Chili. Besides being delicious additions to my spice cabinet, they\u2019re also fairly priced, and I can feel good about supporting small businesses when I order them \u2014 rather than buying spices of questionable origin from some mysterious grocery store spice giant. And, while you can cook meals and make cocktails based around the spices themselves from the recipe bank<\/a> on their website, you can also just add these spices to your regular weeknight meals. Being able to cook with high-quality spices that I\u2019d usually have to go to a restaurant to taste has been great, and it makes my weeknight meals so much more interesting and fun to eat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n I\u2019m also not the only one who digs the spice shop. \u201cI bought the bundle of flavors<\/a> so I could try them all!\u201d one reviewer wrote, \u201cThey are so convenient to have around, I find fresh lemongrass hard to find in my local supermarkets, so to have it on hand is so convenient, same with all the other spices. Secondly, the flavor is phenomenal. I find myself gravitating towards the smaller garlic, the lemongrass, and the chilis the most when I\u2019m cooking. The chilis have some good heat!\u201d So, if you\u2019re looking to, er, spice<\/em> up your weeknight meals or try some new and exciting recipes, give V\u00e2n V\u00e2n a try ASAP \u2014 especially while it\u2019s on sale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n