My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“What a gorgeous cookbook!” That was my first thought upon seeing this cookbook. I love the cover, and the photos inside the book are gorgeous! There is a lovely variety of recipes in this cookbook separated into chapters that make it easy to find what you’re looking for. Chapters are:

• Ingredients for Thai Cooking
• Must-have Herbs & Spices
• Snacks & Finger Foods
• Salads
• Roast, Grill & Stir-fry
• Fish & Seafood
• Curries & Soups
• Rice, Noodles & Sides
• Desserts & Drinks
• Basics
• Menu Planner

The menu planner is especially nice as, rather than a dry list of recipes, each menu is a row of photos of each dish on the menu.

I wanted to start simple, so I decided on the Chicken Satay with Turmeric & Ginger. I was unable to find the tamarind paste, but I decided to go ahead without it. I have a serious skin sensitivity to peppers, so I double gloved and prayed. Hmmm. Not sure what happened with the peppers as I bought what I was supposed to, but there was basically no heat at all. I didn’t want to blow the back of our heads off, but I did want SOME heat. As a result of non-spicy peppers and no tamarind paste, the results were a little bland, but good. While the flavors were subtle, if you paid attention, they were nice. Let me be clear–this is NOT the recipe’s fault! I don’t know if someone mis-labeled the peppers or what, but they clearly didn’t work like they should, and I’ve seen tamarind paste in the store before, but they were out and I didn’t want to wait. With the tamarind and peppers that are actually hot I think it would have been a great dish. I actually made jasmine rice substituting coconut milk for part of the water, and it was very good.

Another simple, but excellent dish is the Thai Fried Rice. It calls for chicken and shrimp, but I think you can easily use one or the other by itself and still have a great dish. It’s easy to make and very delicious.

There’s so much more to try in this book, but I didn’t want you to have to wait longer for a review. Take a leap into some homemade Thai food. I think you’ll thoroughly enjoy it!

I received a copy of this book from Weldon Owen for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.