SIMPLE THAI FOOD, Classic Recipes from the Kitchen by Leela Punyaratabandhu

Leela Punyaratabandhu originally started as an online blogger in 2008 sharing Thai recipes with public from recipes collected by her mother who passed away weeks earlier. All recipes in this cookbook are foods the author grew up eating and proudly prepares for her family and friends to date.

Simple Thai Food is comprised of four sections with the first chapter having appetizers which is commonly known as “between meal snacks” for inhabitants of Thailand. The second chapter is Rice Accompaniments (dishes eaten with rice with chapter three having recipes for complete one dish meals and chapter four has wonderful desserts that are eaten between meals as a snack in Thailand. The cookbook includes standards such as pantry, ingredient, and equipments list sections to get you started cooking.

I am listing recipes that are worth a try because of the ingredients and for dishes that I have actually enjoyed at Thai restaurants and want to reproduce myself as the amateur chef I think I am.

Noshes and Nibbles

Ø Sweet Potato Fritters with Peanut-Sweet Chile Sauce (p.11)

Ø Pork Toast with Cucumber Relish (p.28) I simply LOVE this toast!

Rice Accompaniments

Ø Stir-Fried Glass Noodles with Chicken (p.52)

Ø Green Papaya Salad (p.79)

Ø Oxtail Soup (p.88)

One-Plate Meals

Ø Pad Thai with Shrimp (p.123)

Ø Rice Noodle with Beef-Tomato Gravy (p.130)

Ø Chicken, Water Morning Glory, and Satay Sauce on Rice (p.140)

Sweets

Ø Toasted-Coconut Meringue Cookies (p.150)

Ø Mango and Sweet Coconut Sticky Rice (p.161)

The Ingredient Glossary come in handy describing the ingredients used in the cookbook and if there is not a local Asian grocery store in the neighborhood, Leela lists available mail order resources.

This delightful Thai cookbook filled with great home recipes only has one drawback of not having a photograph for every recipe included in the book. However, I definitely recommend to ‘home kitchen chefs’ who want to add Thai home recipes to their culinary expertise and is most considerable as a gifting opportunity.

I received this book free from Ten Speed Press through the Blogging for Books reviewer program in exchange for an honest opinion in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission guidelines.