Ken Hom Cooks Thai Book

Everybody loves Thai food. Only on the international scene for relatively few years, it is now ubiquitous. It's easy to see why. Thai flavours are highly individual, complex and clear, subtle and exhilarating, yet structurally (as it were) the cooking resembles the familiar Chinese. Ken Hom is an ideal guide to this fascinating cuisine in Ken Hom Cooks Thai. Stressing, as you would expect, the links with Chinese food, he nonetheless concentrates on the ingredients and techniques that make Thai cooking so special. The signature flavours are lemon grass and coconut, against which limes and lime leaves, coriander and basil are deployed. Thai food is also, famously, blisteringly hot. Ken Hom sticks to fairly simple, accessible recipes (eschewing the complexities of the distinct and highly decorative royal or palace cuisine), 130 in all. Starters include spicy salads made with fish, chicken and beef, and a delicious one in which grapefruit is dressed with lime, soy, sugar, chillies and dried shrimps. Soups tend to divide into clear spicy broth garnished with meat, vegetables and/or noodles (Fragrant Prawn and Lemongrass Soup is perhaps the most familiar of these) and richer concoctions based on coconut milk, such as Delectable Coconut Soup with Mussels or Rich Pumpkin and Coconut Soup. Fish and seafood dishes are among the glories of Thai cuisine, and they are well represented, from the simplicity of Steamed Fish with Coconut to the elaboration of Panaeng-Style Curry with Prawns. Red and green curries, made with chicken and beef, are perhaps the best known among dozens of mouth-watering meat, rice and noodle recipes. Ken Hom has produced an inspiring introduction to an inspiring cuisine. --Robin DavidsonRead More