Anyone know of a good Thai cookbook?

[SilvrBck]

I have many great cookbooks. It seems, however, that they all deal with French or American style cuisines. I have never found a very good Chinese cookbook or Thai cookbook. I have access, living in San Diego, to a lot of very authentic Asian ingredients and would like to start trying out some Thai stuff at home. If anyone has any recommendation it would be awesome.

Drew

 

[jennyema]

Thai Food by David Thompson is my favorite.

But I live right by an gigantic asian market and I am a bit obsessed with asian cusine.

It's a beautiful book but probabably not good if you are looking for an introduction ...

 

[SilvrBck]

Thai Food by David Thompson is my favorite.

But I live right by an gigantic asian market and I am a bit obsessed with asian cusine.

It's a beautiful book but probabably not good if you are looking for an introduction ...

That almost sounds like a challenge! I'm gonna get it! My mortar and pestle are in for a workout!!! Thanks.

Drew

 

[bknox]

I have many Thai cookbooks but my all-time favorite is Keo's Thai Cuisine by Keo Sananikone and published by Tenspeed Press. There is a recipe called Evil Jungle Prince with Chicken that I absolutely love. You will also find recipes for several curries and desserts.

 

[Claire]

Oh, Bryan, you brought back instant memories of eating at Keo's in Hawaii many years ago!!! In those days it was BYO, and we would have our wine/beer bottles at our feet, order everything "Thai Hot", sweating bullets in the tropical nights. If I remember right, at that time the bathroom (I don't believe there was a ladies and gents) was actually outside in a courtyard of sorts. Since I collect cookbooks, especially ones from restaurants I've dined at, I'll have to go to amazon and see if I can find Keo's. And Evil Jungle Prince was one of our favorite dishes there.

Since Thai cooking can be kind of intricate (lots of ingredients), I like a book called "Thai Cooking" by Hilaire Walden. It is a tall, skinny paperback with a photo on each page and very easy-to-follow recipe. I don't know if HPBooks still exists or has this series any more, but I've been pleased with all the recipes I've used in it, and like it better than my more detailed cookbooks.

 

[debbie_7155]

I have a great thai cooking book, its called The australian womens weekly cookbooks, we can buy them over here in the UK, so im sure you will be able to get them too,
i must have about 30 different cook books from the womens weekly, & i use them all the time,
Great coloured big pictures, very easy step by step recipes to follow, makes your mouth water just by looking at all the glossy pictures in them..lol

 

[Big Al]

Thai Food, by David Thompson. Great book, good read, cant miss it, it has a crazy hot pink bindings and cover.

 

[SierraCook]

.....Since Thai cooking can be kind of intricate (lots of ingredients), I like a book called "Thai Cooking" by Hilaire Walden. It is a tall, skinny paperback with a photo on each page and very easy-to-follow recipe. I don't know if HPBooks still exists or has this series any more, but I've been pleased with all the recipes I've used in it, and like it better than my more detailed cookbooks.

Claire, I also have the same book and it is one of my favorites. Every once in awhile I will see it in a speciality cooking store.

 

[Sue Lau]

I have many Thai cookbooks but my all-time favorite is Keo's Thai Cuisine by Keo Sananikone and published by Tenspeed Press. There is a recipe called Evil Jungle Prince with Chicken that I absolutely love. You will also find recipes for several curries and desserts.

I think Keo's is a great choice! What is even better is that I think all of the recipes from that book are online (or at least they udes to be).
But there are so many good recipes out there. I know many people love recipes by Kasma Loha Unchit. (you can see many of those recipes here: http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/recipe.html ).
My personal favorite is "Hot Sour Salty Sweet" by Jeffrey Alfred. I also have a couple other of his cookbooks. The photography is great!
~mouse

 

[BreezyCooking]

For Thai food, I have 2 favorites that are not only functional, but wonderful reads on the culture/cuisine. They are also gorgeous enough to put out on your coffee table for guests to peruse.

The first is Thailand - The Beautiful Cookbook. This was originally put out in hardcover for around $50, & was reprinted in hardcover for considerably less a few years ago, if you can find it. It has, however, also been put out - by Border books, I believe - in a softcover edition.

The second is Southeast Asia - another hardcover beauty that's worth searching out. The photography, readability, & easy-to-follow recipes make for a lovely experience.

For Chinese cooking, one of my hands-down favorites is an unillustrated (except for some black-&-white drawings) volume - The Key To Chinese Cooking, by Irene Kuo. If you only have one Chinese cookbook, this should be the one. It may be out-of-print now, but is worth searching out in 2nd-hand bookstores. I'm sure a copy can be found at one of the online 2nd-hand dealers. Per The Washington Post "A splendid, superbly executed volume that teaches as it tempts the reader." I've yet to make any dish from this book that didn't turn out fantastic.

(Edited to add that if there was only one technique that made this book worth the few dollars I paid for it, it was "velveting" food before stirfrying it. While I've been stirfrying poultry & seafood for YEARS, the difference in the resulting dish was AMAZING. My husband & I looked at each other after the 1st bite of "pre-velveted" stirfried chicken with "why didn't we know about this before" expressions.)