Thai Food

"Thai cooking is a paradox," writes Australian restaurateur David Thompson in his comprehensive and thus aptly named Thai Food. "It uses robustly flavored ingredients--garlic, shrimp paste, chilies, lemongrass--and yet when they are melded during cooking they arrive at a sophisticated and often subtle elegance." Pursuing this transformation in depth, his book presents hundreds of recipes that celebrate the Thai meal while exploring its historical and cultural context. Readers will delight in the wide selection of authentic dishes like Duck and Spring Onion Soup, Grilled Beef Salad, and Green Chicken Curry with Baby Corn, and relish Thompson's vast appreciation of his subject. Though the recipes are straightforward and workable once ingredients are assembled and techniques understood, those new to Thai cooking may want a less rigorous introduction to the subject. However, anyone with an appetite to explore it on Thompson's terms will benefit immensely.

Beginning with an exploration of Thailand's history and culture, the book then presents an extended section on rice, the centerpiece of the Thai meal. The "cookbook" follows, with a systematic introduction to the Thai kitchen, ingredients, and equipment. The chapter "Food Outside the Meal" is devoted to Thai snacks and vendor food, such as Stir-Fried Crisp Fish with Holy Basil. Noodle dishes include an exemplary pad thai, and sweet dishes like Grilled Bananas with Coconut Cream and Turmeric are also offered.

Readers should know that the recipes, published primarily for an Australian audience, give ingredients in a mix of metric and American measurements and/or with nonmetric equivalents, and that nomenclature is also sometimes foreign ("minced" for "ground" meat, for example). With photos throughout, the book sets a standard for Thai cookbooks to come while helping many cooks achieve the true, richly exotic cuisine. --Arthur Boehm
Customer Review: Thai food
I am absolutely crazy about Thai cooking. Tried to make several recipes before but it did not work out (used curry sources from a bottle). Bought "Thai food" after reading a very good review of a famous Dutch gourmet and restaurant reviewer. Cooked 3 recipes so far - absolutely brilliant. The best thing is that the author offers recipes for curry pastes for every (curry) dish. A bit time consuming but tastes as good as in a Thai restaurant. Recommend to all Thai cooking lovers.
Customer Review: The Bible of Thai Cooking
I have just returned from Thailand -- eating and cooking my way from south to wayyyy north. Every cook I met recommended this book as THE definitive Thai cookbook. I ordered it and read, with considerable fascination, the history and cultural context and evolution of Thai cooking, along with outstanding recipes. You cannot go wrong with this comprehensive tome.

You can find healthier food choices and salad bars at many chain restaurants, but they are much more common in independent restaurants that typically have more power over what they serve and in what portions. Check out the webpages for various restaurants in the area to see which menu items are offered that will be healthful for you to eat. Making eating out healthful takes a little bit of work, but is well worth the effort if you want to stay healthy even when on the road.

There are many restaurants which actually do put some serious effort into creating a menu which is friendly to everyone and their various eating styles. It may take a little bit of effort to find the restaurants which offer menu items that work for you, but once you find healthy options for your meals, it will have been well worth the effort.

The first step is to find a restaurant which has a decent salad bar, so that you can load up on fresh fruits and vegetables before you get your entre. Fresh fruits and vegetables are a great way to fill your stomach with healthy things before the less healthy entre arrives. You may consider choosing a soup and a salad for your meal, rather than a salad and an entre.

Restaurant Eating CAN Be Healthy

Choose broiled fish with lemon juice if you are not sure which entre to get. You can also have fresh vegetables added, and can have fruit ice or fresh fruit for dessert. Following this basic plan outline, you can cut some serious calories and other bad things out of your meal, making it much more healthful.

You will have difficulty finding real whole grains in a restaurant setting, so rather than eating out for breakfast you should consider keeping cereal with you to eat in your hotel or when out on the road. This way, you can make sure to get a big, healthy breakfast without having to deal with potentially unhealthy ingredients or portion sizes.

Another more healthful option for eating is through Asian restaurants, which tend to offer a lot of dishes which contain large amounts of vegetables. If you stick to the vegetarian or seafood entries that are offered, then Thai, Mongolian and Vietnamese restaurants are all great choices.