learn to cook Thai food

at the suggestion of Jeffrey Steingarten, I searched (and searched and searched) for what he calls the primo Thai cookbook on the planet in English: Cracking the Coconut. Finally found one abused copy in Manhattan at the Strand, after looking for months. It is perfect, though one could wish for photos. The author spends most of the pages explaining why Thai food is worth cooking, what it means to do it well, and what the ingredients should be (when it’s good to substitute and when it’s not worth it, for example). Totally helpful.

July 2009

had a great time! learned to cook: chicken w cashew nuts, coconut chicken soup, green curry chicken, mango and sticky rice, papaya salad, plus vegetable carving and deep fried bananas! a delicious day =)

http://cookinthai.com/

now need to practice… when i get back.

My Thai cookbook arrived today! I was a little disappointed because there are no pictures. But, I read some of the recipes and they sound delicious and easy enough. Some of the ingredients sound kind of strange though..”fish sauce”? I am thinking my kitchen is going to be very smelly..

Today I ordered what is supposed to be one of the best Thai cookbooks out there..

I was really hungry for some sticky rice, so i went straight to the source. The women at the cashier asked how i knew about sticky rice and I told her a little bit about my time spent in thailand. She was from chaing mai. Me and her started to talk about food and she told me how easy it was to make stuff. I had some recipes for som tum and said i would come back when i found it. I went home and made some sticky rice right away. It was delious and easy. I found the recipe and went back the next day. Everything seemed so cheap and I was very excited. It was shipment day, so the store was buzzying and thai was being spoking and its really unorganized. It transported me right back to my time in thailand. It was really nice. One girl that helped me get my ingeidents got her masters from the university I studied at, Thammast. her name was Angela. I went home and made the som tum, i forgot soy sause and had to us worshire sause. It was fine and good for a first attempt. Today I made homemade peanut sause and spring rolls. It was a crazy juggling act and the spring rolls were tough. But i manged with the help of a friend. I am stuffed with good peanut sause and cant want to share my new tricks with my friends. time to drink some tea.

To be honest …I aint the best cook around! I don’t feel bad about it…I have other talents..this just aint one of them!
But…...I would love to learn how to cook Thai food….. I will look for a mentor!

so far, i can make a yummy shrimp tom yum

If you really wanna learn then this is THE place to go …

http://www.thaicookeryschool.com/

The thing about cooking Thai is that many people feel it gonna be difficult but it actually quite easy once you start. So my advice … believe in yourself and just do it

like pad-tahi, tom-yam soup and quite a few stir-fry dishes.
but i want to learn this more thoroughly, like, take a cooking class in Bangkok or sth… :)