True Thai: The Modern Art of Thai Cooking Review

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(More customer reviews)This is it - the real thing. If you are choosing among Thai cookbooks, why not buy one written by a man who is both Thai and an excellent chef in his own U.S. restaurant? The author provides details that an outsider to Thai culture might never be privy to - the specific way a Thai cook fluffs his or her rice before serving; intricacies of street vendors' cooking - which in Thailand, far from our hotdogs and pretzels, is an art unto itself; the specific condiments favored for each dish. On the other hand, unlike cookbooks I bought in Thailand, this book has been written with the equipment and availability of Thai ingredients of the Western cook in mind. The author understands both cultures and provides a wonderful education in his heritage in a manner you can easily reproduce at home (provided you have a wok, and access to fairly common ingredients such as fish sauce, coconut milk, cilantro, etc). When the authentic ingredient may be hard to come by, he provides substitutions, i.e. lime peel slices for Kaffir lime leaves. Having travelled and eaten all over Thailand, I was disappointed, after my return, whenever I tried Thai recipes from my other cookbooks. TRUE THAI has enabled me to replicate those amazing dishes with the layers of flavor unique to that beautiful land. Making homemade curry pastes as he describes - red, green, Jungle, Massaman - is labor-intensive, but very worth it. The chapter on vegetarian cuisine is a cookbook in itself. Recipes we have loved so far include: Phat Thai, Tom Kha Kai, shrimp-fried rice, pork-fried rice, beef with broccoflower, Massaman curry with potatoes and pineapple, and banana fritters with coconut and sesame. There also are chapters on garnishes, menu-planning, and "cooking with a Thai accent" - things like Panang Pizza. There is a useful appendix listing mail-order sources, and I plan to hunt down some tamarind concentrate and Thai coffee powder. If you want to cook real Thai, get this book. It's also just fascinating reading.

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True Thai is one of those rare and important cookbooks where cuisine and culture meet. Food lovers will come away with layers of understanding, discovering the soul of a country where cuisine is a sacred art.True Thai takes us from the jostling Bangkok streets and canals to countryside rice paddles and mango groves, from distant mountain villages to Thailand's stately Royal Palace, delivering True Thai taste in every sense of the word.Victor Sodsook, a native Thai, chef/owner of Los Angeles's celebrated Siamese Princess restaurant, has written the authoritative Thai cookbook that American cooks have been waiting for. True Thai satisfies an increasing public interest in the seductive flavors of Thai cuisine, and a decreasing emphasis on high-fat, high-calorie red meats, eggs, and oils. The lively, easy-to-follow recipes are tailor-made for today's adventurous, aware cook.Most of the tools and ingredients used in True Thai are probably already in your kitchen. And its wide-ranging glossary of ingredients will help you select the most flavorful spices and freshest produce, as well as the best brands of key Thai ingredients like coconut milk and fish sauce. Among True Thai's 250 recipes, you'll find the many Thai dishes that have already won over Americans, such as Crispy Sweet Rice Noodles (mee krob) and soothing, aromatic Chicken-Coconut Soup with Siamese Ginger and Lemon Grass (tom kha kai). Everything is here, from the deliciously spiced barbecued chickens found in Thai provinces to the elaborate and time honored cuisines served to Thailand's royal family, such as King Rama V's Fried Rice. Since Thailand teems with both fresh- and saltwater fish and shellfish, you'll find an abundance of healthful, provocative seafood dishes, such as Ayuthaya Haw Mok Talay, a scrumptious mousse of curried fish, shrimp, and crab, redolent with chili and coconut milk, grilled and served in fragrant banana leaves.Surprisingly light preparations for meat include Fiery Grilled Beef Salad, a classic of Bangkok cafe cuisine, and mu kratiem phrik Thai, a simple stir-fry of pork medallions sizzling with garlic and black pepper. The Thai Vegetarian Cooking chapter is really a whole book unto itself, encompassing its own blend of curry pastes, soups, appetizers, entrees, and one-dish meals-all completely free of animal or fish products. The Thai Salads chapter showcases such recipes as Coconut, Lemon, and Ginger Salad or Grilled Lobster Salad with Green Mango that demonstrate the great variety and sensuousness of this branch of Thai cooking. Drinks and desserts include such ethereal treats as Rose-Petal Sorbet and the refreshingly herbaceous Lemon Grass Tea, wonderful either hot or cold. There's also a chapter that shows how to marry these newfound Thai tastes with classic American cooking, through such improvisations as Bangkok Burgers with Marinated, Grilled Onions and Spicy Thai Ketchup.True Thai is more than a cookbook; it is a collection of grace notes exemplifying Thai cuisine's dedication to pleasing the senses. There's even a chapter on preparing Thai-style table decorations, many of them as edible as they are lovely.True Thai's 250 recipes, each with helpful and fascinating notes, present Thai cuisine with simplicity and elegance. True That is the most authentic, authoritative, and accessible Thai cookbook ever printed in English.

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Cracking the Coconut: Classic Thai Home Cooking Review

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(More customer reviews)Reply to Mr. Eugene Stiles' review of my book, Cracking the Coconut. Su-Mei Yu, author
Thank you for taking time to read and review my book. Recognizing that cooking and eating is always a subjective experience, I welcome the opportunity to respond to your remarks. 1.In writing a cookbook merging traditional and modern Thai cooking, I chose to focus on recipes that combine basic techniques and staples. Once the basic techniques are mastered, cooking Thai food is less intimidating and time consuming. This is true with the staples used in Thai cooking. Without recipes on how to make these staples such as crispy fried garlic, crispy fried shallot, dried roasted chile in oil, or even coconut milk, the cook will have to repeat the preparation each time it is called for in a recipe. Organizing it in the book in the manner I did makes cooking easier. Besides, it's the way Thai cooks do it. 2. From my point of view, there is no comparison between canned coconut and fresh coconut cream and milk. This is just as true for coconuts purchased here in the United States. It also applies to canned curry paste. Thailand, is, as many nations today, striving to become westernized and has adapted the fast and busy lifestyle. That doesn't mean the food is better! Supermarkets, as well as local markets do sell pre-made chile pastes. Some are better than others. But this does not mean that Thai people have stopped cooking in the way described in my book. On the contrary, as Thai's have became aware of preservatives added to processed food, many have returned to traditional ways of cooking, which includes making coconut cream and milk, and chile paste. To know this you would have to spend time with traditional cooks, not just visiting restaurants.
3. Regarding your claims that Americans are too busy to cook. This may be true for some, but it doesn't hold true for many others who continue to believe that good eating results from good cooking. I believe that cooking and eating are inseparable and speaks for who we are and our cultural heritage. You may wish to cook from canned goods, but there are people like myself who find pleasure in cooking from fresh ingredients. Cooking and eating for me and in traditional Thai philosophy is as much a process and social ritual as a product. Cooking and the time involved for some is pleasurable and a form of relaxation and giving. I am a busy person with a couple of restaurants, writing and engaged in community services and yet I cook everyday for myself and my family. Ultimately, it is a choice of life style. My book is directed at people who seek more from both food preparation, taste and the dining experience. This requires an emotional and time investment. Life, and how we spend our time and to what end and purposes are choices we all make. I am offering an alternative.
4. I encourage you to study Thai recipes closely, or perhaps eat with a more discriminatory palate.
Observations are not the same as merging oneself into the preparation and practices of Thai dining. In almost all Thai recipes, the four ingredients: sea salt, garlic, coriander roots and Thai peppercorn, are part of the recipe, whether combined into a paste or used in combinations with the others. Fresh herbs you mentioned, including lemon grass, Thai basil, galangal, Kaffir (Makrud ) lime and leaves when used, are to add flavor and aroma. Still, without sea salt, garlic, coriander roots, and Thai peppercorn as its foundation, Thai cooking would not be what it is. Fish sauce also does not take the place of sea salt as a primary ingredient, it is added for flavor. My sources on this issue are both my experience as a Thai cook and the traditional cooks who have taught me. Many are introduced in the book.
5. Prikk Thai is a Thai word for Thai pepper. "Prikk Kee Nuu" is a type of bird chile referencing its shape. I maintain, Prikk Thai, rather than Prikk Kee Nuu is the heart of Thai cooking, and revered as such. The chile pepper, as opposed to the indigenous peppercorn, is a recent import, in terms of Thai cooking, from the Americas. While the bird chile stings and burns, the peppercorn warms one's body and spirit.
6. Ancient recipes in the 16th and 17th century, indeed, contained miso, wine, and whiskey, which the Thai adapted from the Japanese, Chinese and the Europeans. To write a Thai cookbook for westerners, where ingredients may not be readily available, substitutes are regrettably a must. The so-called strange ingredients you refer to have been painstakingly tested to closely resemble the original ingredient, in order to preserve the integrity of the recipe. While we may disagree on which substitutions produce the truest authentic flavor, I place my trust in my palate and training and traditional Thai cooks.
Lastly, next time you are in San Diego you are invited to come and eat real Thai food at my home. Kubb Khun Kai.

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Thai Food Review

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(More customer reviews)`Thai Food' by Australian chef, restaurant owner, and Thai food scholar David Thompson is one of those books which, if you have an enduring interest in food, you genuinely regret it took any more than a few days since its publication to acquire, read, and assimilate the book's material. It is one of those books where you can open it to virtually any page and find evidence of its quality.
I recall some reviews of this book which noted that although it was certainly comprehensive, it may be criticized for giving recipes containing hard to find ingredients. While I think this is a valid criticism of a book advertised as having recipes for the home cook such as `Vatch's Thai Kitchen' by chef Vatcharin Bhumichitr, it is not a valid criticism of a scholarly book where the object of the author is to present an accurate picture of a national cuisine. And, Thompson has done this as well or better than virtually every good survey of national cuisines I have reviewed such as Diane Kochilas `The Glorious Foods of Greece', Jean Anderson's smaller book on `The Food of Portugal', Marcella Hazan's `Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking', Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless various books on Mexican cuisines and the granddaddy of them all, Julia Child's `Mastering the Art of French Cooking'. This may be just a bit unfair to these authors, as not all of them were aiming at a grand scholarly treatment of an entire cuisine. Child, for example, was giving us `cuisine bourgeois', leaving the three other types of classic French cooking to others. Kennedy and Bayless have covered Mexico in not one, but in at least two or three different books, with Kennedy's latest, `From My Mexican Kitchen' being a model treatment of some special subjects in a national cuisine.
Thompson has covered the whole range of Thai cooking, including very good essays on Thai history and geographical regions and the regional influences on Thai cuisine. One look at the map of Thailand and you can see how broadly different one part of the country may be from another. The northern section virtually pokes its head into the China, and Chinese make up about 11% of the population, as they seem to do in virtually every country on which they border or every nearby island group such as the Philippines. Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam surround the Northeast. The southern peninsula borders on Malaysia. The central rice-growing region is close to Burma and India. There are some parts of the country such as the far north and northeast to which it was literally impractical to travel from capital Bangkok until the mid-1920's when a railroad was build from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on the Ping river.
While China, India heavily influences Thai cooking, and it's Southeast Asian neighbors, it is also different from China and India in important ways. While the wok is important to Thai cooking, it is not used in the same way as their Chinese neighbors. The most traditional Thai wok is actually earthenware, replaced by brass upon contact with European traders. `Traditional Thai stir-frying was not the fierce and furious method of the Chinese, but gentle frying over radiant heat in an earthenware pot.' It is obvious in this very same paragraph that Thompson is not a `scientific' food scholar, as he correctly states that the proper technique is to heat the wok before adding the oil, but describes the level of heat as `white hot'. White-hot temperatures are found only in the centers of stars, not in Bangkok kitchens. Nevertheless, his cooking advice is solid and entirely consistent with observations made by Shirley Corriher on heating metal pans before adding oil.
Every major cuisine has their classic techniques for preserving food. In fact, one may almost measure the sophistication of a cuisine by their representative preparation and preservation methods. The Italian cuisine is one of the world's leaders because of their cheese-making for milk preservation, salumi techniques for preserving meats, drying and curing methods with ham, winemaking and olive oil techniques, and salting techniques for fish and capers. While salt is a signature ingredient of Mediterranean cuisine, it is simply not as common in southeast Asia, so Thailand and surrounding countries extending as far north as Korea use fermentation as their primary preservation technique. It seems they simply ferment everything the can get their hands on, such as bamboo shoots, bean curd, fish, rice, watercress, and soybeans. Like the Italians with Parmesan and anchovies, the fermented products are often sources for adding saltiness to dishes.
When I go to a Thai restaurant or look at recipes in popular Thai cookbooks, many Thai dishes seem to be a mix of a great number of ingredients. Thompson, on the other hand, states that the ideal of a Thai salad is simplicity, but it is also about a balancing of ingredients, as exemplified in Alford and Duguid's book title, `Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet'. I will venture the hypothesis that this great mix of tastes comes from the intersection of the sour of fermented ingredients and the strong capsasian chiles used to combat the oppressive Thai heat.
Some people, even some foodies, may be inclined to dismiss this book as simply not a type of cooking with which they have any interest. I would recommend they get and read much of this book anyway. One example is the chapter on salads. In spite of the great difference in ingredients, I find a remarkable similarity between Thai and French salad making. This means that Thompson's essay and survey of Thai salads contains some insights into saladmaking that you simply may not get anywhere else. Even if you never go out of your way to find red shallots, holy basil, or Kaffir lime leaves, there is much you can learn here!
This book should be on the shelves of anyone who wishes to be sophisticated about food.


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Susanna Foo Fresh Inspiration: New Approaches to Chinese Cuisine Review

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(More customer reviews)One trouble with a lot of Chinese (or other ethnic for that matter) cookbooks have is that they often call for items that might be readily available in Hong Kong but which are very difficult to find in you local supermarket -- expecially if you live in a small town like I do. Susanna Foo on the other hand is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and had developed a series of dishes that:
taste better to American palates
use commonly found ingredients
are simple to make.
The resulting dishes are lighter, fresher tasting and all around better than you find in other Chinese cookbooks. She even adds that you don't have to be a slave to her recipies. Cooking should be fun and it should please your and your families tastes.
This is a large cookbook. 352 pages and the book is of large format. There are a lot of recipies, a lot of things to try that are different that what you've seen before, a combination of Chinese with French, molded to fit America. Maybe that's why her two restaurants have been such a success.

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The Elephant Walk Cookbook: The Exciting World of Cambodian Cuisine from the Nationally Acclaimed Restaurant Review

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(More customer reviews)As my girlfriend is from Cambodia, I have looked for a source to learn to prepare some of the dishes her mother also makes, and I've managed to surprise her a couple of times with the mostly very authentic recipes that are in this book (not ALL dishes are perhaps uniquely or typically Khmer, but that does not change the merits of the book! (cfr. the other reader reviews)). The book is very complete, and a pleasure not only to use for cooking but also simply to browse and admire the pictures. For those who wish some extra sources of "authentic" khmer cuisine, I can recommend that they look for the book by Nusara Thaitawat (The Cuisine of Cambodia - I don't think it's on Amazon, but can be found on the internet) - they will find a great second book that also lists a large number of marvellous recipes, with equally exquisite pictures, but does presuppose some more familiarity with the ingredients and measures - which can be acquired by reading and using "The Elephant Walk" first.

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Thai Home Cooking: Quick, Easy, Delicious Recipes to Make at Home (Essential Asian Kitchen Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)The recipes in this book are wonderful. I have cooked the green and red curries, the pad thai, and the tom kha gai. I'm going to cook the Chang Mai noodles next. I was looking for a good approximation of the wonderful Thai food I had in D.C., and with some tweaking, was able to match it. A couple tips: If you're new to cooking thai food, DON'T SKIP ANYTHING UNLESS THE DIRECTIONS SPECIFICALLY SAY YOU MAY! There is a section devoted to ingredients that you should read carefully. In my opinion, a thai curry is NO GOOD without genuine kaffir lime leaves, which are hard to come by. I found them in the frozen section of an asian grocery store. Also, if you fry the curry pastes, they stay for up to 2 months. Last, a note on flavor. The curries needed a little more sweentess for me to be perfect. Try adding 1/2 tablespoon more palm sugar to the red or green SUACES if you have the same problem. Also, don't be afraid to reduce the number of chilies in the SAUCES (don't know about the pastes themselves though). Lastly, a food processor makes any of these dishes relatively easy. Besides that, once you get the basic ingredients, you can make many of these dishes, over and over again, making it cost efficient. This book is a wonderful intro to tasty thai food.

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Simple step-by-step instructions, with photographs, and an extensive guide to Thai ingredients make it easy to prepare vibrant salads, delicious main dishes, refreshing drinks and exotic desserts. Alongside the familiar curries are Penang curry, steamed fish in banana leaves and gai ying chicken.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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The Everything Thai Cookbook: From Pad Thai to Lemongrass Chicken Skewers--300 Tasty, Tempting Thai Dishes You Can Make at Home (Everything Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was a bit intimidated to try to cook Thai food. It just seemed like it would be so difficult! The other Thai cookbooks I've looked at seemed a little too scary- how am I supposed to shop for the ingredients if I don't know what they are? This cookbook did a GREAT job of explaining things to me- from the ingredients to the cooking methods involved. Even better, the food is AWESOME! The meals are similar to what I get at my favorite sit-down Thai restaurant. This book is well worth the money for anyone who enjoys Thai food.

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Sumptuous Thai dishes you can make at home!Thai cuisine creates aharmonious blend between spicy hot and comparatively bland ingredients from age-old Eastern and relatively new Western foods. Featuringboth outstanding traditional recipes and cutting-edge crowd-pleasers such as Spicy Fried Rice Sticks, Salmon Toast, Chicken Satay, and Thai Crab Cakes, The Everything Thai Cookbook guides you through preparing meals as good as you'd find in your favorite Thai restaurant. The Everything Thai Cookbook is perfect for both vegetarians and meat-eaters, offering an eclectic range of spices, flavors, and aromas. Whether you want to prepare a meal for one—or an entire feast—The Everything Thai Cookbook will have you serving up tasty fare to tempt even the most critical food connoisseur.Featuring mouthwatering recipes for:·Banana Fritters·Chicken-Vegetable Rice·Coconut Curried Chicken·Fresh Oranges in Rose Water·Pad Thai ·Pumpkin Rice Custard·Spicy Rice and Shrimp Salad

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Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia Review

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(More customer reviews)I am, admittedly, a coockbook hoarder. I have them everywhere -- even in the drawers of my nightstand and tucked under the bed. I read them cover-to-cover like other people read novels.
Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet is, without a doubt, the best cookbook I have ever read. It is part travel novel, part anthropology lesson, and -- in large part -- a primer for westerners in Southeast Asian cuisine.
Easy to read, straightforward in instruction, its' only flaw is that -- in rare instances -- recipes may include items not available in even a metropolitan Asian market. (I have been to all of the Asian markets in Little Chinatown in Chicago and have yet to find coriander root!) But the ingredients are largely available at most Asian markets and even some larger supermarkets, and substitutions are often recommended.
The grilled chicken with hot and sweet dipping sauce has become a family favorite. The dipping sauce was so flavorful, so simple yet so complex in flavor -- I was surprised that I had made something so delicious.
Buy the book -- you won't be sorry!

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Asian Vegetables: From Long Beans to Lemongrass, A Simple Guide to Asian Produce Plus 50 Delicious, Easy Recipes Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a good guide to the produce you'll find in an Asian market, and it gives you a decent idea of what you can do with that bitter melon or mustard cabbage after you've brought it home. It's a good book -- but I can't work up my enthusiasm for it.
For one thing: even though the photography is attractive, it's not terribly useful. Presumably to both save money and to give a sense of size-and-scale, most of the vegetable photos have several items in the same picture (Chinese broccoli next to choy sum next to mustard cabbage), with little circles (TOO-little circles) indicating the item highlighted in the text. The veggie photos are also smaller than the recipe photos; personally, I'd rather a good hard look at a healthy bunch of greens than a full-page picture of Asian gumbo with mustard cabbage and chinese sausage (however appealing that recipe might be).
The information given is also... well, not quite minimal, but far from exhaustive. While the entry for Lotus root in Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini is two or three pages (plus recipes), there's really only 3 paragraphs devoted to it here. It's good information, mind you, just not that much of it.
But note that I do give the book 4 stars. If you're completely new to Asian cooking, then this inexpensive book may be helpful (and a fatter book would be overwhelming).

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For anyone who has ever been dazzled but daunted at the Asian market, here is an indispensable, easy-to-use guide to identifying, choosing, and preparing these wonderfully unusual vegetables. From Amaranth and Bok Choy to Lotus Root and Lemongrass, food editor and writer Sara Deseran describes clearly the exotic array of Asian produce now widely available, explaining everything you need to know to shop confidently. This lavishly photographed resource is rounded out with 50 contemporary recipes, from Edamame with Szechwan Pepper-Salt to Stir-fried Shrimp and Garlic Chives. Asian Vegetables takes the mystery out of these enticing ingredients and puts the flavor in for fabulously healthy and delicious meals.

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Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen Review

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(More customer reviews)This is, hands down, my favorite cookbook. There are over 90 pages of extensive notes on food preparation before you even get to the first recipe. If you are like me and have never prepared Japanese food before, these notes are essential. You learn about the basic ingredients (there are hundereds of different misos), basic cooking techniques (how to drain and press miso), and how to make a variety of basic cooking stocks. Each section is filled with beautiful photographs so you will be able to identify exactly what you are looking for when you get to the Japanese market. One of the previous reviewers was confused because they couldn't tell which miso to use in a recipe. The answer: whichever one you like. That is one of the best aspects of this cookbook. This isn't gourmet cooking, this is is Washoku (home cooking) designed to be cooked to your families taste. As an unexpected bonus the author will often point out regional differences in preparing dishes and give the reader the option of which approach they would like to follow. A great book for anyone that wants to learn basic Japanese cooking. Buyer beware: make sure you have access to an Asian grocery store. The typical American grocer carries very few of the necessary ingredients.

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In 1975,Gourmet magazine published a series on traditional Japanese food —the first of its kind in a major American food magazine — written by a graduate of the prestigious Yanagihara School of classical cuisine in Tokyo. Today, the author of that groundbreaking series, Elizabeth Andoh, is recognized as the leading English-language authority on the subject. She shares her knowledge and passion for the food culture of Japan in WASHOKU, an authoritative, deeply personal tribute to one of the world\'s most distinctive culinary traditions. Andoh begins by setting forth the ethos of washoku (traditional Japanese food), exploring its nuanced approach to balancing flavor, applying technique, and considering aesthetics hand-in-hand with nutrition. With detailed descriptions of ingredients complemented by stunning full-color photography, the book\'s comprehensive chapter on the Japanese pantry is practically a book unto itself. The recipes for soups, rice dishes and noodles, meat and poultry, seafood, and desserts are models of clarity and precision, and the rich cultural context and practical notes that Andoh provides help readers master the rhythm and flow of the washoku kitchen. Much more than just a collection of recipes, WASHOKU is a journey through a cuisine that is rich in history and as handsome as it is healthful. Awards2006 IACP Award WinnerReviews"This extensive volume is clearly intended for the cook serious about Japanese food."—Minneapolis Star Tribune". . . scholarly, yet inspirational . . . a foodie might just sit back and read for sheer enjoyment and edification."—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Quick & Easy Vietnamese: 75 Everyday Recipes Review

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(More customer reviews)I love Vietnamese cuisine, and this book allows me to easily incorporate it into my everyday diet. The ingredients are easy to find in chain grocery stores and I can use ingredients I buy in multiple recipes, making the book economical. I recommend preparing your own chicken stock (have it on hand in freezer). It improves the taste of the recipes. I grow my own Vietnamese herbs in the summer, and the book will give me lots of opportunity to use them on the fly. I have also lost a little weight cooking from this book because the dishes are flavorful (be sure to use the Everyday Dipping Sauce) and healthy, and replaced microwaved and canned meals. Many books may be more in-depth, and not every dish is absolutely fantastic, but if you need something for the busy weekdays, this is a good choice.

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Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent Review

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(More customer reviews)One of the joys, perhaps even a requirement of a good cookbook is for it to give you more than an endless list of recipies. It should teach you something about the country or region of the origin of the recipies. It might give you some ideas about the culture, the history, the whys and wherefores of the spices, perhaps the religious aspects.
And in this ares these authors excell. As the sub-title says, this book is about their travels throughout the Indian sub-continent. It shows something of the people, the way they live, the equipment they use to prepare the foods being cooked.
Then there are the recipies:
There are nine recipies for rice alone, one of the staples of my diet. I had shrimp with rice last night. But now I find myself looking at the beautiful color photograph of the Chile Shrimp Stir-Fry on page 216. It also has curry, cinnamon, lime juice, and more.
Any reason you can think of for not having shrimp two days in a row?
Well, one reason might be the pork curry in aromatic broth from page 279.
And to go with either one of these, cucumber salad with hot spiced mustard dressing from pages 61 & 62.
Banana-Pepper Rounds which seem to have a crisp caramelized skin over the cooked banana. Maybe serve this over ice cream for a combination of flavor and temperature.
Well, I'm stopping this writing and starting on a list to take to the supermarket. Thankfully they've made suggestions on alternates for some of the spices that I am unlikely to find in the small Nevada town in which I live.
Very well done guys!

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The Complete Asian Cookbook Review

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(More customer reviews)I have owned and loved this cookbook for 20 years. It is a MUST for anyone who wishes to become conversant in Asian food. I have lived in Indonesia for 7 years and traveled extensively in the region, and find her recipes to always be authentic. My one complaint is that a few years ago the book was republished with "revised" in big letters on the front, and I bought a second copy thinking it would be updated inside. In fact, it is absolutely criminal that they refer to it as "revised." IF YOU OWN AN OLDER VERSION OF THIS BOOK DO NOT BUY A NEW ONE. Virtually the only noticeable difference is that the photos are smaller and the list of where to buy ingredients is replaced by a forward saying that ingredients are now more readily available and food processors are useful (duh). Although she mentions changes to one recipe, Singaporean laksa, I have not seen a single change to the rest of book - including corrections of the rare typo or mistake, or instructions for a food processor where it clearly would make sense. Solomon and the publisher should be ashamed that they called the new edition "revised" and thereby caused loyal fans like me to waste money on a new book.

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With over 800 recipes from 16 countries, Charmaine Solomon's The Complete Asian Cookbook is the perfect introduction to the food of Asia. Charmaine Solomon has tried and tested every recipe, ensuring that they are simple to prepare and that every ingredient and every preparation step are explained in easy-to-follow terms.This classic cookbook, in print for 30 years, ventures into culinary areas that are often overlooked: the sour-hot dishes of Thailand, the Nonya cooking of Singapore and Malaysia, the soul-warming hotpots of Korea; as well as excitingly different dishes from the lands of Burma, Laos and Cambodia.

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