2 comments about Thai Food and Cooking.

1. Have tried several recipes and they are not only simple but taste great. Quick prep time too.



2. This lovely book is artfully produced, with 2-3 attractive photographs per recipe, both of the food prep and the finished product.
   
   This isn't just a cookbook. It is a primer on Thai history, cooking techniques, ingredients, equipment, and more, with over 60 non-recipe pages.
   
   The recipes are given both in metric and US measurements. For example: 900 ml / 1 1/2 pints / 3 3/4 cups vegetable stock.
   
   The recipes are explained with clarity, so that even if one is unfamiliar with the dish, it's easy to follow the instructions.
   
   This book will help you produce beautiful, interesting, simple, delicious Thai meals.
   
   This book is published in paperback as Thai: The Essence of Asian Cooking

No comments about Curry.

No comments about Thai Cuisine with Jasmine Rice.

No comments about 30 Minute Thai Cooking.

5 comments about Tommy Tang's Modern Thai Cuisine.

1. Reading this cookbook one has to wonder, is this about food, or is this about Tommy? I've eaten for several years at his restaurant (far better 10 years ago than now) and honestly, the recipes in the book are less than reproducible. There is a recipe for Tiger Roll-about as Thai as Pizza. The pictures are good, but the Tommy's tenor of 'Ain't I great and witty?' makes me gag. Sorry...give me a good recipe for a good Lemon Grass soup and you've got a devotee. I pour over Pad Thai recipes, this one just doesn't cut it. I'll eat at the restaurant (especially on Drag Night) but I won't cook from the book.



2. As a person who never cooks,after eating at Tommy Tangs restaurants in Pasadena and Hollywood,I had to rush out and buy the cookbook.WOW!!!!!!What a book!!!!!!I found the recipes to be well written and easy to follow,and the pictures were absolutely mouthwatering,like the dishes at the restaurant.Since then, I have eaten at many Thai restaurants and purchased Thai cookbooks and have yet to find one that is remotely close in quality to Tommy Tangs.The cookbook is absolutely the bible of Thai cooking and a must for any kitchen.



3. This is a book full of tremendous recipes, from classic Thai curries to superb innovative takes on dishes such as mee krob. An excellent introduction to Thai cuisine for anyone interested in cooking or eating! Although Tommy gets creative at times, this should not be confused with the Asian fusion approach which is so fashionable in 1999 --it is truly Thai cuisine. Buy this book if you can find it! Your taste buds will thank you.



4. I have prepared many of the recipes in this cookbook. It is my Thai cuisine bible and I have never prepared anything but something ( or many things)that were not rated superb by everyone at my dinner table. Tang's recipe for tom kha kai is amazing, though I cut the coconut milk ,two thirds coconut milk and one third water. I have not found a light coconut milk that is worth using. His pad thai recipe is difficult but good if done correctly and I made the Salmon with Kaffir Lime Sauce last week and it was amazing! I have other Thai and Southeast Asian cookbooks, but none compare to Tommy Tang's. I have gone to his restaurants in LA and Pasadena, and they have both been great.



5. I have tried quite a few recipes in this book, and have to say that this cookbook is one of my all-time favorites. Every single recipe is delicious. Don't worry that you can't find Tommy Tang's Thai Seasoning in the local asian markets; he lists the ingredients in the glossary, so you can approximate your own version... garlic, black & white ground pepper, chili powder and cayenne. The recipes are rich, flavorful, clearly written, original and well-rounded, except for dessert. When you love savory and spicy foods as much as I do, who cares about dessert anyway?!
   
   We don't eat Pad Thai in restaurants anymore, because after we tried Tommy Tang's version in our kitchen, nothing else comes close to being so fresh and wonderful. My coconut curry favorite is the Green Curry Salmon... what a treat! Another can't miss authentic dish is the Green Papaya salad. But there is much more, and I'm sure I will eventually make every dish in this cookbook.

No comments about Thai and South-East Asian Cookbook, the Ultimate: All the traditions, ingredients and techniques, with over 300 spicy and aromatic recipes illustrated step-by-step.

5 comments about Dancing Shrimp: Favorite Thai Recipes for Seafood.

1. At last, a book that truly offers extraordinary recipes combined with someone who can really write very well. I spent over a year in the Kingdom of Thailand and have rarely been able to find any culinary author that could actually bring me back to the sights, sounds and overall sensory assault Thailand delivers on a daily basis. As a working chef myself, I can truly tell you this is one of the finest books you will find on Thailand, no other author goes into the detail of ingredients, cooking processes and traditions that make this cuisine so exquisite. I especially enjoyed the essays on how the staple ingredients are made, fish sauce, oyster sauce, dried fish and seafood, etc.. Can't go wrong here, I'm afraid Im sounding a bit biased, but this book does reign as king among my shelf of Thai cookbooks, looking forward to many more by this author



2. I bought this book based on the reviews here and really have to thank the reviewers who gave 5 stars for this book. I am a native Thai and I have to say that Kasma's recipes really give you authentic Thai food. I have tried at least 10 recipes from her book and have enjoyed my home-made cooking with no MSG (that I would mostly get at restaurants). What I like best about her book is the ingredients and tips section where she describes properties of Thai spices and Thai ways of cooking such as steaming, 'yam' salad making, etc.. Reading through her recipes is quite enjoyable since she usually gives a bit of history about the food along the way. The trick to get delicious dishes is to make sure you can acquire all ingredients you need (some are hard to find, but she has a web site that directs you to some online Thai groceries if you can't find the spices from your local stores).



3. Unexpectedly picked up this book at a half price store. Did not even realize it was by the author of 'It Rains Fishes', which has been sitting on my wish list for some time.

   Full of extensive and practical information re: ingredients and cooking techniques. This I found quite interesting and useful despite not being new to either Asian cooking or ingredients. Also gives sources for ordering things like Kaffir lime trees which I had not been able to find by searching the internet or asking around several Asian supermarkets in Houston.

   The anecdotes and descriptions accompanying the recipies betray Ms Loha-Unchit's enthusiasm for and utter joy in food. I cooked 3 recipies out of this book last weekend and found them easy and straightforward in execution as well as restaurant quality taste-wise. surprisingly simple! Highly recommended.




4. I'm not going to buy ANY Thai cookbooks by other authors until her books come back into print. There is no point in assessing Thai cookbooks if this book and It Rains Fishes are not included in the mix. I can't encourage anyone to pay nearly a hundred dollars each for second hand copies. And who ever heard of cooking from a Palm Pilot ebook? I really mind that old fashioned cooks who as recently as less than five years ago were recognized authorities are now fallen by the wayside because they are not on Food Network. If not for Sara's Secrets, one wouldn't see masters like Jacques Pepin and Madhur Jaffrey outside of PBS reruns. That means our food intellect is shaped by name brands instead of quality earning a brand.
   
   The secondhand prices are outrageous. Since Thai cuisine is now more popular than ever, there are more interested readers who would love to have authentic instruction.
   
   p.s. I contacted the author through her website and received the advisement that there are NO plans to reprint her titles. That's strange that an authentic Thai with superior knowledge is out of print when so many new books are out from fans of Thai cuisine who don't have a comparable foundation in the food culture that they are writing about.
   
   Her books are kind of fantastic. I prefer this book to It Rains Fishes and hope to try the pan seared scallops recipe soon.
   
   Right off, I bought Golden Boy fish sauce from the local Chinese supermarket based on her recommendation and found that is wonderful; no more Thai Kitchen for me.
   
   I am also going to look for her recommended brands for other condiments.
   
   Much of the information in her books are available on her website so see for yourself why she is good.



5. I just cooked a new recipe from this book and, as usual, It tasted wonderful. I decided that It was time to write a review about this book and for my SURPRISE I got the information that this book is out of print. This is one of the most well written book that I have about thai food (and I have more than 40 thai cookbooks). If you read (or cook from) this book or "It Rains fishes" (the other out of print book from the same author) you will just ask loud: "PLEASE, PRINT THIS BOOK AGAIN".

5 comments about Ant Egg Soup: The Adventures of a Food Tourist in Laos.

1. From the moment she lands in Laos and asks a customs official for the most authentic place to eat in town I was hooked on the author's cultural odyssey into the country's gastronomic soul. It's beautifully written and I found it a brave, generous book, siffused with a passion for exotic cuisine and a genuine affection for the people she encounters. Her own illustrations and a glut of tasty recipes nestle with quixotic travellers' tales and stimulating insights into the history, politics and customs of a country that is little known to the West. There are also some apposite reflections on tourism and international development.Complex and, naturally, hunger inducing. I loved it.



2. Refreshing (literally) travel book in which the author wanders around Laos as a 'food tourist' learning and sharing recipes en route.



3. This is a beautiful book about Laos, its people, and their customs. The descriptions of the food are spot-on and the recipes are a great bonus. As a transplanted Lao-American trying to recreate flavors of my past, this was quite a gem of a find. If you have any interest in Southeast Asian culture or tourism, you definitely must read this. The parts about Luang Prabang and the Plain of Jars will have you googling airfare to Laos in no time.



4. Ant Egg Soup was the last book I read before departing for Laos after reading what few books I could find about Laotian history, customs and people. And it was the first book I read after returning. The writer captured the essence of the people, customs and food of Laos. Ant eggs were about the only food I wasn't able to find. As a Westerner, we are repulsed by the thought of eating insects and bugs. She inspired me to try a traditional Laotian dinner. Unbeknownst to me when I ordered it consisted of fermented fish, Mekong River algae crackers, fried tadpoles, rice paddy crabs, bee pupae in honeycomb, silk worm, grated dried water buffalo skin and dried water buffalo instestines to mention a few items. It all was amazingly good, as was all the other food to be found in Laos and Cambodia.
   Well done and a must read for anyone heading off to SE Asia.



5. 
   "Ant Egg Soup" is not merely food writing--my fear is that a lot of people who would love this insightful, fascinating description of a journey through Laos will not read it because, not being very interested in food, they will assume there's nothing in it for them. On the contrary by the time we finish this book art, politics, agriculture, all the essential features of human life will have been touched upon; mostly, however, it is the lives of the people the authoress met, sketched with wit and warmth, that one comes away from this book with. Miss DuPont de Bie seems to have been able to penetrate the interior life of the people she met; rarely have I read a travel book which felt less like peering dimly at the incomprehensible through frosted glass.
   
   Of course food is the constant unifying theme of this book. I was moved by it to buy a fairly full set of Lao cookery and ingredients (possible, more or less, here in New York) and try out some of her recipes, and they really are great. But--and I'm really not exaggerating when I say this--the non-foodie reader who really wants to know about life in Laos today will get more from this book than from almost any other book on the subject.
   
   This book is largely the record of a love affair: that of the authoress with a people, culture, and lifestyle she is clearly crazy about. But it is not naive: on the contrary there is throughout a very open and realistic description of all the evils she comes across. Litter, dishonesty, corruption, even, in one horrifying passage, an attempted rape, all put in an appearance: and it is because her love for Lao culture survives these encounters that we believe her, that we accept her overwhelmingly positive account as mature judgement rather than infatuation.
   
   One last point: Ant Egg Soup is probably best read, like most books, from beginning to end, but it also lends itself very well to excerpting, so much will not be lost if you want to simply sample bits here and there.

1 comments about Crying Tiger: Thai Recipes from the Heart.

1. Written by a professional Thai cooking instructor and former owner of an Asian grocery, Crying Tiger: Thai Recipes From The Heart is a Thai cuisine cookbook written especially for those who may or may not be familiar with the basics, ingredients, and preparation techniques of Thai cuisine. A wealth of black-and-white photographs illustrate the basic directions. An introductory section features illustrations, descriptions, and recommendations of where to find ingredients unusual to western cooking, from plantain bananas to dried silver bean thread noodles (and many other types of noodles) to green papayas, thai eggplant, palm & coconut sugar, and much more. A superb, user-friendly introduction to creating high-quality Thai food.

3 comments about The Blue Elephant Cookbook: Royal Thai Cuisine.

1. A Magnificent Book from a Refined Establishment The Brussels based Blue Elephant which now includes 7 international branches and is still growing did a magnificent job with this cookbook as always under the guiding eye of its original founder Mr. Karl Steppe.

   Exotic recipes include Green, Red and Yellow curry dishes for beef, chicken, lamb, and vegetarian courses. This in addition to delightful and sophisticated trademarks such as the Chicken Souffle, the Tom Yum khung prawn soup, Seafood Cassoulet, the Tod Man Pla fish cakes, crab claws, pad thai noodles, several varieities of stir fry rice, the restaurants star Jasmine Cake dessert, coconut sorbet, and bananna cake.

   If you are ever in Beirut, Brussels, Dubai, Copenhagen, Paris, London, Lyon or New Delhi don't pass up the chance to visit the incredible experience of dining at this top notch sophisticated establishment. From the moment you enter a Blue Elephant you will be dazzled by the exotic decor.




2. This is an extremely beautiful book which I purchased at the London restaurant. However, the recipes I've used have not worked very well, especially in comparison to the fanstastic fare turned out by the restaurant chefs. I feel that Kasma Loha_unchit's books are much better at explaining exactly how to achieve the sophisticated and complex flavors of Thai cuisine.



3. If you like to cook Thai food this book is superb. Lovley recipies with delicious sauces. I thought I was quite good at cooking Thai food, but this book is the best I have seen. We have cooked many of the dishes and are really pleased we bought it.