Rating: 
Summary: Amazing
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Great Thai Cookbook!
Review: This book has great Thai recipes.I went to Thailand for a month and came back looking for authentic recipes. THIS IS THE BOOK TO BUY! The sections are clearly laid out (everything from street vendor food to Royal recipes!) and the instructions are clear. (Attention vegetarians: there is a section for you, too.) The glossary of ingredients is very helpful, as is the section is the back on where to get hard-to-find items. I highly recommend this book, if you are looking for authentic Thai recipes. Small potential "downsides": no photos (but the recipes come out flawless anyway) and they are REAL recipes, not simplified versions for crock-pot cooking - in other words be prepared to COOK. It also would be helpful if you lived near an Asian grocery store. Don't let this scare you off - this cookbook is true to its title!
Rating:
Summary: Great Thai Cookbook!
Review: This book has great Thai recipes. I went to Thailand for a month and came back looking for authentic recipes. THIS IS THE BOOK TO BUY! The sections are clearly laid out (everything from street vendor food to Royal recipes!) and the instructions are clear. (Attention vegetarians: there is a section for you, too.) The glossary of ingredients is very helpful, as is the section is the back on where to get hard-to-find items. I highly recommend this book, if you are looking for authentic Thai recipes. Small potential "downsides": no photos (but the recipes come out flawless anyway) and they are REAL recipes, not simplified versions for crock-pot cooking - in other words be prepared to COOK. It also would be helpful if you lived near an Asian grocery store. Don't let this scare you off - this cookbook is true to its title!
Rating:
Summary: This is the Thai cookbook you want
Review: 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? I am suspicious of ethnic cookbooks penned by non-native authors. They may be fine, but here the author provides details that an outsider would 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.
Rating:
Summary: This is the Thai cookbook you want
Review: 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? I am suspicious of ethnic cookbooks penned by non-native authors. They may be fine, but here the author provides details that an outsider would 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.
Rating:
Summary: A must have book for those that like to cook or eat Thai.
Review: True Thai is filled with delicious and easy to prepare recipes, as well as short and entertaining vignettes about the various regions in Thailand. Victor Sodsook also provides a comprehensive list of recommended brands ands supply sources. Nothing I prepared has not been a success. Friends that recently returned from Thailand have agreed that the recipes are right on the mark.
Rating:
Summary: A must have book for those that like to cook or eat Thai.
Review: True Thai is filled with delicious and easy to prepare recipes, as well as short and entertaining vignettes about the various regions in Thailand. Victor Sodsook also provides a comprehensive list of recommended brands ands supply sources. Nothing I prepared has not been a success. Friends that recently returned from Thailand have agreed that the recipes are right on the mark.
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