True Thai: The Modern Art of Thai Cooking

I have a small library of asian cookbooks, including several Thai cookbooks, but this is by far the best cookbook for Thai cooking that I have come across. I cannot help but to recommend it to all of my friends who (1) like Thai food, and (2) like to cook.The recipes tend to be on the spicy side, which is almost unheard of. So many Thai cookbooks try to water the spice down, temper the curry paste, only add a splash of lime or a leaf or two of Makrut leaves. Not this book. This book gives you great, rich flavor. Some of the recipes are VERY spicy, but none of the recipes, not even the very hot ones, are without the delicious complexity of flavor that is present in Thai cooking. The flavors are always full of a wonderful mix of different tastes from the region. Wonderful use of lime, herbs, chilis, lemongrass, coconut, and more.The book has one drawback. I will probably not use the little cheap cans of Thai curry paste again. The recipes for the curry pastes in the book are so delicious and flavorfull that the overly salty curry cans are just not worth the facility they provide [well, almost not worth the facility ;-)].

I lived in Thailand during the 1980's before Thai cooking became popular across the United States. During that time, there were very few cook books that could come close to the real flavor of Thai cuisine. I learned how to cook Thai food while watching over the shoulder of my dear house maid. She taught me how to make all of the everyday dishes that Thai people love but seldom find on the menus of restaurants. Thanks be to Victor Sodsuk for putting in a chapter on street food. Now all the food that I long for and remember while living in Thailand can be enjoyed everyday. I just recently taught a class on Thai cooking at a local community college and this book was the one that I referred to the most. The recipes are excellent!

As I wandered through reviews of other cookbooks I did not know I wondered if I could believe the reviewer's comments. So as a check, I searched out my favorite cookbook-True Thai. I have read and used it at length for years, learning something new about the food and culture every time. It is a treat to cook with, the depth of flavors is beautiful and the recipes clearly authentic. In a way I was disappointed to see it so aptly reviewed, my secret is out. You see, none of the folks I know have this cookbook.However, upon reflection, the reviews take the appropriate approach; anyone who appreciates great Thai cuisine and beautiful unassuming commentary will fall in love with this cookbook.

This book gives you all the basics for making a great Thai dinner from scratch. From recommending the type of utensils and wok to use, to the recipes for making your own sauces and pastes to use in the recipes (he also allows the use of store-bought equivalents), this cookbook wows everyone I cook for. If you love Thai food, get it. My favorite cookbook. I recommend the Chicken with Cashews & Chili-Tamarind Paste. It's simply amazing.

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.