Book Description
Real Thai has gone vegetarian! Everyone loves Thai food, but it's not easy to find truly meatless dishes. Thai cooking expert Nancie McDermott has developed inventive variations on traditional recipes, providing health-conscious cooks with a repertoire of meatless dishes that captures the vibrant spirit of Thailand. A helpful glossary introduces readers to the seemingly mysterious yet widely available ingredients and equipment used in Thai cooking and offers tips for finding or substituting them. With an emphasis on the classic techniques, ingredients, and flavors of Thai cuisine, this groundbreaking cookbook provides one hundred delicious recipes for everyday meals and special occasions.
Customer Reviews:
Each recipe is more tantalizing than the other! Do get it!.......2006-12-31
I have tried about seventy percent of the recipes in this book - sometimes even substituting ingredients - and yet had success each and every single time. Friends and family think I took classes in Thai cooking - thanks to the authoress, for a truly wonderful book! Also I did not realise how much better the food tastes - I suspect most restaurants do use a 'tad-bit' of fish-sauce or oyster-sauce - because without these, I find my dishes turn out with richer flavours and taste.
I do wish there were pictures in colour though, because after all, isn't half the fun in cookbooks about lusting at the beautifully laden dishes, having your mouth water and then rushing in a frenzy to cook 'em up and dig your hungry paws (um, I mean chopsticks) in 'em :)?
Nice book , would be perfect if it had pictures.......2006-04-24
This is a nice cookbook. All the recipes that I have tried have turned out exactly as I expected (not common for all cookbooks offered for sale). It is very handy that the author gives recipes for 4 different types of curry paste. I also appreciate the glossary of Thai terms.
The Fried Cashews with Chilies and Green Onions is a particularly good recipe.
If you like Thai food this is a nice cookbook to have in your library. Also, if you like spicy food or Chinese food, I suggest that you give this book a try.
Excellent vegetarian Thai cookbook.......2005-12-21
I have used many different recipes in this book and every one turns out consistently great. I definitely would recommend this cookbook.
How much more reassurance do you need? This is exceptional!.......2005-04-01
To date, all of the reviews here grant four or five stars to this book - and I am no exception. This little red book contains the most delicious selection of vegetarian Thai recipes that I have encountered in my 15 years of cooking vegetarian meals. Not only are the recipes quite easy in preparation, but they also are based on easily available ingredients and are very quick to make. The outcome is almost always exceptional - both in taste and presentation. I can wholeheartedly recommend this book as a valuable addition to anyone's collection of cookbooks. As you can see from the other reviews, I am not alone. So, what are you waiting for? It's rare to find such a unanimously positive opinion about anything.
Delicious recipes, well laid-out book.......2004-03-08
Vegetarians have long bewailed the difficulty of making Thai food: almost every ready-made Thai curry paste available contains shrimp or worse. Now it is possible to concoct your own! McDermott has created an Eastern cookbook with a Western eye, taking the mystery out of this delicious cuisine. Recipes are categorised along familiar lines, exotic ingredients are explained in a glossary and sources listed, unusual techniques (from opening a coconut to roasting chillis) are fully explained. This cookbook is very helpful indeed: there's even a bibliography and a list of menu suggestions, you can alter the amount of heat in a dish to taste (I'm a wimp about chillis and am doing fine), and she is not too snobbish to suggest replacements, such as ginger if galanga is unavailable. The lay-out is clear and easy to follow, and there are several interesting anecdotes about McDermott's travels in Thailand and the traditional Thai way of life.
The recipes are imaginative, healthy, straightforward to make, and they work beautifully. Many of them are vegan, and adaptations are usually suggested for those which are not. A "Basic Recipes" section gives recipes for essentials such as the different curry pastes, roasted chilli paste, vegetable stock, and "mushroom mince" (which she has invented to replace minced meat in traditional recipes).
Some examples of recipes included are:
Crispy spring rolls with sweet and hot garlic sauce
Green papaya salad
Jasmine rice soup with mushrooms, green onions and crispy garlic
Red curry with eggplant and sweet peppers
Butternut squash in fresh green curry
Firecracker broccoli
Coconut ice cream
Thai iced tea
To my surprise, Thai cookery turned out not just to be possible for vegetarians and vegans (an astonishing number of recipes are here, and meat-eaters will certainly not feel deprived), but the ingredients are easy to find, the recipes easy to make, and the results are dazzling.
Book Description
Here is a great collection of Thai recipes in terms of taste and execution for the home cook, adjusted to please Western vegetarian tastes. Enjoy salads, soups, stir-fries and curries, beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs. The author regularly appears as a guest chef at major culinary schools.
Customer Reviews:
Not too thrilled.......2007-10-02
I've made 3 recipes from this book, and all of them were edible, although the Tom Kha required some alterations before I was willing to serve it.
I think the problem here is that the author is not himself a vegetarian (according to the intro) and therefore is not familiar with typical substitutions. The Tom Kha recipe omitted the usual fish sauce--just omitted it without any replacements. Could we use a konbu soupbase for a fishy flavor? Maybe some of that fermented bean paste? Something was missing. I'll have to attempt my own substitutions.
The Phad Thai recipe also just omitted the fish sauce without replacements. It had a pretty good flavor though. My husband thought it was great.
The author seems to use mushrooms in place of meat in most recipes. I like mushrooms, but if you don't, be warned.
I am familiar with good Thai flavor--there was a little hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant near where I used to live. The walls of the restaurant were decorated with framed magazine articles naming that restaurant as the most authentic Thai restaurant in the western United States. The food was excellent. The recipes in this cookbook are just close enough to remind me of that Thai restaurant, but far enough to make me really miss good Thai food.
The first time I opened this book, it made a cracking sound and now the pages are falling out; inferior binding, but the other books I own in this series are not falling apart.
Beats the Restaurant dishes at first try!.......2007-09-18
I did not expect so much from this book and was worried I would never be able to find all the ingredients listed here, but boy was I wrong. I was able to find most of the ingredients at 99 ranch (Chinese market) and the book also lists colorful pictures and descriptions of the major ingredients listed in the recipes. I just made Phad Thai & Red Curry from scratch using this book and they were absolutely amazing. I'm a novice at cooking but these dishes were in some ways even better than some of the Thai restaurants I've been to, not just because it's less oily and less salty but very tasty! I can't wait to try rest of the recipes to add to my home cooked vegetarian meals. Definitely recommend it.
Vege Thai to Love.......2005-08-20
A very good local Thai restaurant had recently closed and my wife and I were looking for some replacement when we found this cookbook in a vege zine. The recipe's are great and easy to follow. We made the Tom Yum which is a lemon grass soup and it was excellent, just like the restaurant.
Excellent Introduction to Thai Vegetarian Cuisine.Buy It........2005-03-05
`Budda's Table' by Chat Mingkwan looks like a typical `little cookbook' you commonly see published by Chronicle Books, some of which are decent and some of which are a waste of money compared to other titles available for a similar price. This book, published by a house with the incredibly modest name of `Book Publishing Company' out of Summertown, Tennessee, has lots to offer, even if it isn't published by Alfred A. Knopf, Harper Collins, or Artisan.
Unlike the dominant cuisines of India, Thai cooking is not inherently vegetarian, and yet Buddhism, a religion with strong vegetarian tendencies is the most important religion in Thailand. This gives rise to the book's title and subtitle, `Thai Feasting Vegetarian Style'. This means that fish sauce, one of the most important Thai ingredients, has been removed from all recipes. This is probably about as dramatic as removing anchovies from all Italian dishes. Fortunately, the wealth of southeast Asian fermented bean pastes are up to filling in the gaps left by removing the famous `Nam Pla' from all recipes.
This is not to say Chat Mingkwan has abandoned Thai traditional cooking. He begins his book with an excellent little guide to Thai ingredients which is no replacement for good references such as Bruce Cost's `Asian Ingredients', but it is an honest coverage of the field with a firm commitment to the belief that there are a lot of Thai ingredients with which you cannot substitute and expect to achieve the right Thai taste. Foremost of these in my mind is galangal, a rhizome with some resemblance to ginger. But, based on the scientific names of the two plants, they are not closely related. They certainly do not belong to the same genus. Another unmistakable and unreplacable ingredient is tamarind. While I have never knowingly tasted galangal, I have tasted tamarind and can think of nothing in the western pantry that comes close to its taste. It is sharp, but its bite is somewhere between cassia (Asian cinnamon), licorice, and vinegar.
Thai cuisine is an ancient fusion of Indian and Chinese cuisines, jolted to an entirely new level with the addition of the capsicum chilies from the New World. I know less about Indian cooking than I do on just about every other major cuisine you can name, but it seems to me that the primary transformation from Indian to Thai cuisine seems to be the shift of curry mixtures from powders in India to pastes in Thailand. This generalization may be all wet, but it is quite true that virtually all curry bases described in this book are pastes, making the mortar and pestle a very important tool in the Thai kitchen. I agree entirely with the author and millions of Mexican home cooks and Jamie Oliver and everyone else who wants to weigh in on the subject that the mortar and pestle is simply a superior tool for making pasty mixtures than any modern blender or food processor. If you want to make serious use of this book, get a good, heavy set and find yourself a good source of Thai ingredients.
To reinforce this point, the author opens with a 15-page chapter devoted to chili and curry sauces. These recipes also reinforce the fact that you will not succeed with these recipes unless you can find a source for galangal, Kafir lime leaves, and lemongrass. Most of the other ingredients should be no problem in Mittelamerica. In my darkest Pennsylvania, my local farmers market carries fresh lemongrass and cilantro with roots and my local megamart has all the chilies, bean pastes, and tamarind you want.
The next chapter on salads and snacks includes easy recipes with that oh so distinctive Thai taste based on peanuts, lemongrass, chiles, cilantro, and tamarind. This chapter includes a recipe for the famous Pad Thai salad, where, unlike many famous French salads, the only difficult task is finding all the ingredients. The chapter also presents rice as a salad ingredient, something rather uncommon in western menus. And, if rice isn't your dish, there is always tofu.
The chapter on soups brings back my most indelible memory of eating Thai food when I asked for clear Thai soup to be done `spicy'. It was very, very, very spicy hot! Chef Mingkwan immediately scored points with me when I saw his vegetable stock recipe. My fussiest and most highly respected French sources on stocks insist that vegetables are simmered no more than an hour in a stock, and Chef Mingkwan puts his daikon and cilantro and chiles to the hot water for no more than 45 minutes. This chapter also includes a great foodie talking point recipe with a `Hunter's Soup'. This is the Thai vegetarian version of the soup one makes when the hunting has not gone too well.
The next chapter deals with stir-frying, one of the strongest influences from China on the cuisines of Southeast Asia. I have seen street food people from Burma to the Philippines use woks with almost exactly the same techniques as you may see in Shanghai or Beijing. The introduction to this chapter is a fair example of the author's sense of humor as he points out that uses for the wok include steaming, smoking, deep frying, floating on flood waters and sledding in the snow. While the stir fry recipes are very good, this book is no primer on stir-frying technique or stir-frying equipment. If you are not familiar with the wok through experience with Chinese techniques, I suggest you check out Ken Hom's `Quick Wok'. I suspect Martin Yan's earlier books are also good sources, but I have not gotten around to reviewing them yet.
This is a sample of the good Thai cooking experience available to you in this book. The value of this little book is capped with an excellent bibliography that oddly omits a reference to the definitive new work `Thai Food' by David Thompson.
A recommended easy intro to Thai cooking for vegetarians.
A guide to the joy of meatless cuisine.......2005-01-06
Written by a professional restauranteur and Thai native, and printed in binding specially designed to lay flat for easy reference in the kitchen, Buddha's Table: Thai Feasting Vegetarian Style is a guide to the joy of meatless cuisine, focusing upon food styles from all four regions of Thailand. Recipes such as Crispy Noodles, Tofu Patties, Mung Bean Wraps and more are complemented with information on how to properly prepare Thai produce, spices, noodles, wrappers, and rice for those unfamiliar with Thai ingredients. A handful of color photographs enhance this superb and easy-to-use addition to any vegetarian cookbook shelf.
Book Description
Here are 130 authentic Thai vegetarian recipes to captivate the palate, richly enhanced with color photos of the country and the food. American measures.
Customer Reviews:
YUM!!!!!!.......2006-08-16
I tried 4 recipes from this cookbook today and there wasn't one that I didn't want to eat straight from the pan! They were flavorful and delicious. I've always enjoyed resturaunt Thai primarily because i'm nuts about basil but I wanted to expand my repitoire. As explained in the book these aren't dishes with the meat left out, these are recipes that were created from scratch without meat even being a consideration. The ingrediants are easy to find (with the exception of Bitter gourd I NEVER can find that) with enough variety that you won't become bored. I was also pleasantly suprised that the dishes I tried weren't volcanically hot. They were pleasantly spicy much on par with Indian food but won't upset your stomach. I highly recommend this book.
Don't Bother With Other Thai Books.......2003-10-22
I wish I had found this book a long time ago. It would have saved me much $$. This book has all the classic Thai recipes you would want (and for some reason many Thai cookbooks aren't all inclusive) - Pad Thai, Pad Si Ew, Mee Krob, Laad Nah, Curry Pastes, etc., etc. And, judging from past experience and other books I've read, the recipes look genuine, practical, and delicious. I'm vegetarian; however, you could easily add meat into these dishes if you'd like. If you only looking to get one Thai cookbook this is it.
Delicious!!.......2003-09-06
One of the most authentic thai cookbooks I've used. English and Thai names of the recipes are included as well as great pictures that inspire. Lots of tasty curries which I love (have only tried a couple so far but all have been tasy). Ingedients are all things we can find in the store or easily online for something like kaffir lime leaves. Highly recommend this one.
One of the best cookbooks..........2002-10-17
This is one of the best cookbooks I know of. And it's also one of the healthiest - there's no dairy in it. It's a shame the book's out of print because the recipes are simple and delicious. Worth tracking down a copy.
Quite simply, an excellent Thai cookbook........2000-07-20
For people who long for a taste of true Thai cuisine, this cookbook offers recipes for many well- and little-known authentic Thai dishes. For example, my mother used to make the "White Radish Cake with Beansprouts" for me when I was growing up, but I've never seen it on any menu in the States. Now I can make it myself!
A few of my friends have bought this cookbook, and without exception, each one loves it. A couple of my favorites are the hot and sour vermicelli salad and chickpea curry.
These recipes are the genuine thing and even if you're not a vegetarian, you will enjoy the recipes. If you are a vegetarian, you will be delighted with the variety of tastes and textures to discover.
Book Description
This collection of cookbooks interprets the savory flavors of international cuisines for the animal-free, vegan diet. Each region’s most famed dishes are detailed or redesigned to be meat- and dairy-free. With recipes for appetizers, breads, salads, main courses, desserts, and drinks, each cookbook covers the entire culinary palate.
Connoisseurs of Thai cuisine, an amalgam of influences from China, India, and Portugal, can create mouth-watering dishes indigenous to that region with these easy-to-prepare recipes. Beansprout and Lettuce Soup; Tofu and Tamarind Dip; Carrot, Ginger, and Sesame Fried Rice; and Curried Aubergine with Tofu are among the recipes in this cookbook that feature authentic Thai ingredients and spices.
Book Description
Illustrated with gorgeous photographs, this is the first book to treat vegetarian Thai cuisine in elegant hardcover style -- and at a pleasantly affordable price. Jacki Passmore is respected in culinary circles around the globe for her knowledge of Asian food. Here she presents an unbeatable collection of vegetarian Thai recipes, skillfully sidestepping meat without missing any favorites. Based on succulent noodles and rice, tangy sauces, crisp vegetables, and pungent herbs and spices, Thai cooking is ideal for today's health-conscious cooks, and these carefully crafted recipes make Thai flavor marvelously easy to achieve at home. From essentials like Cucumber Salad with Roast Peanut Dressing to zesty curries, soups, stir-fries, and more, The Vegetarian Table: Thailand deserves a central place in any kitchen where spice, adventure, and delicious vegetarian foods are welcome.
Customer Reviews:
The basics of writing a book..........2006-10-30
...knowing the definition of a word you use in your title would be a start! The author of this book states at the beginning that some Thai people choose to eat fish because the fish are "stupid enough to swim into a net and get caught." This is completely offensive to any true vegetarian who orders a cookbook that is supposed to be based on a peaceful diet. If a human is murderous and violent enough to set a trap in the first place, yeah, they might kill a fish, but who is the "stupid" one here? I can't help but feel the need to rebut such a ridiculous statement. Should a fish not swim in its natural habitat? Should all creatures surrender their homes to the human animals? Pretty soon bats will be peeking around corners, wondering if it's safe to even fly; there might be nets, after all...
Excuse my disgust, but I sure hope this is the last supposedly-vegetarian-yet-includes-sealife cookbook I ever buy.
good eats.......2001-10-03
I'm a huge fan of thai food and was skeptical that I could go vegetarian and still cook thai but this cookbook has great recipes! It has a number of really tasty curries like the root vegetable curry, the jungle curry and others. And the flavors are full and alive. I'm really happy with tyhe recipes I've tried so far and plan to keep on cookin'. Very happy I bought the book.
Great Veggie Thai!.......2001-02-01
I just wanted to say to anyone who thinks this was not meant for veggies, should have read the intro. The Author explains how to substitute, say fish sauce, with light soy or other kinds of combinations to achieve the same flavors. The Pad thai is wonderful as well as the stir-fry's and soups. I recommend you at least try it on for size
Very similiar to a vegetarian cookbook..........2000-12-29
This book has a lot of good recipes. Unfortunately, I am not convinced the recipes were designed for vegetarians. Many of the recipes have ingredient lists like "Fish sauce (or light soy sauce)".
Apart from that, book has lots of pretty pictures, is well organized and has most of the Thai food that vegetarians would order in a restaurant (curries, pad thai, pineapple fried rice). No Drunken Noodle though!
The exotic made easy.......1999-10-27
This is a great book! Easy to follow instructions take the mystery out of Thai cooking while the beautiful illustrations are a feast for the eye. When non-vegetarians tell me that vegetarian food is boring, I use this cookbook to prove them wrong and get rave reviews at the table. Be sure to try the Jungle curry.
Book Description
Enjoy authentic vegetarian Thai food, without the hassle--in 30 minutes or less. Sarah Beattie, author of the "30-Minute Vegetarian Mexican Cookbook," adds another title to this exciting cooking series from Ecco. In this latest volume, Beattie introduces us to the sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavors of Thai cooking. Thai food has never been so simple! Using ingredients such as hot chilies, cooling coconut, zesty lime, piquant ginger, and fragrant lemongrass, Beattie offers tasty Thai dishes that are simple enough for the everyday chef and all ready to serve in 30 minutes or less. Beattie provides a pantry checklist and tips on how to present your dishes with authentic Thai finesse. Learn how to make chili flowers, scallion frills, and deep-fried basil leaves. Over 100 recipes cover every part of the meal including soups, salads, curries, rice and noodle dishes, beancurd, egg and fritter entrees, stir-fries, sauces, desserts, drinks, and even snacks. That traditional Thai dishes such as Het Fang Ping, Vegetable Stir-Fry with Tamarind and Peanut Sauce, and Spring Rolls, as well as innovative dishes for the not-so-timid palate: Yellow Bean and Sweet Potato Stir-Fry, Braised Leeks with Ginger and Cashews, and Mussaman Curry. With this new book, preparing authentic Thai food doesn't have to be a chore. It can be fast, easy, and of course, delicious.
Customer Reviews:
an excellent recipe book full of the joys of food.......2000-07-17
This is an excellent book by someone who has obviously been to Thailand to research and to reconfirm a love of Thai cuisine. There is nothing worthy or earnest or preachy about THIS vegetarian food-writer; it's a beautiful edition (and the pages stay open where you want them) and as either an intro or a revisit to Thai food, it is easy to follow, clear but always interesting.
Customer Reviews:
Fish Sauce isn't vegetarian!.......2002-05-04
Had to comment on the other review -- why would fish sauce be included in a VEGETARIAN cookbook? I am a strict vegetarian (no fish or meat of any time) and have really enjoyed this book!
Where's the fish sauce???.......2000-08-28
This book is not bad at all. I have tried several recipes. Some lacked flavor, while a few are reasonably tasty due to the spices used. Generally, the recipes are easy to follow and straight forward. However, I did notice that one of the main ingredients that distinguish Thai (and Vietnamese) food is missing from ALL recipes: Nam Pla or fish sauce. I would recommend this book for its time saving, healthy recipes, but not much for flavors.
Product Description
Is ultimate range of easy-to-follow cook books. Contains 30 mouthwatering dishes with specially commissioned step-by-step photographs for each recipe.
Average customer rating:
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Vegetarian Thai (Cooking for Today)
Cara Hobday
Manufacturer: Popular Culture Ink
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Thai
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ASIN: 0765198622 |
Average customer rating:
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Cooking the Thai Way: Revised and Expanded to Include New Low-Fat and Vegetarian
Supenn Harrison
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: School & Library Binding
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ASIN: 0613670752 |
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