"One night in Bangkok" : food and the everyday life of empire -- "Chasing the yum" : food procurement and early Thai Los Angeles -- Too hot to handle? restaurants and Thai American identity -- "More than a place of worship" : food festivals and Thai American suburban culture -- Thailand's "77th province" : culinary tourism in Thai Town

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Only one chef has proved her mastery over celebrity chef Bobby Flay in the Food Network's Pad Thai Throwdown challenge: Nongkran Daks. Now, the master chef and owner of Virginia's renowned Thai Basil restaurant shares her secrets for creating Thai cuisine's most beloved dishes at home--using ingredients that can be found in most grocery stores. In Nong's Thai Kitchen, Daks teams up with veteran food writer Alexandra Greeley to show readers how to prepare classic Thai recipes such as: Chicken with Thai Basil Shrimp Soup in Coconut Milk Spicy Beef Salad with Mint Leaves Roasted Duck Curry Thai food is famous for its balance of sweet, sour, salty and hot flavors. This unique symphony of tastes and sensations is why Thai restaurants and cookbooks have entered the mainstream. What most people don't realize is that once elusive Thai ingredients such as fish sauce, lemongrass, coconut milk, cilantro, basil and shallots are now easily found, making it easy to prepare mouthwatering Thai dishes at home for far less money than they would cost in a restaurant. All the recipes in this essential Thai cookbook are healthy, easy to make and inexpensive, so step into Nong's Thai Kitchen and begin a culinary journey to the tropical heart of Asia!

If you love to eat Thai food, but don’t know how to cook it, Kris Yenbamroong wants to solve your problems. His brash style of spicy, sharp Thai party food is created, in part, by stripping down traditional recipes to wring maximum flavor out of minimum hassle. Whether it’s a scorching hot crispy rice salad, lush coconut curries, or a wok-seared pad Thai, it’s all about demystifying the universe of Thai flavors to make them work in your life. Kris is the chef of Night + Market, and this cookbook is the story of his journey from the Thai-American restaurant classics he grew eating at his family’s restaurant, to the rural cooking of Northern Thailand he fell for traveling the countryside. But it’s also a story about how he came to question what authenticity really means, and how his passion for grilled meats, fried chicken, tacos, sushi, wine and good living morphed into an L.A. Thai restaurant with a style all its own.

Chef and cooking teacher Su-Mei Yu presents 175 recipes for Thai fare prepared in the authentic and traditional manner, accompanied by a history of Thai cooking and tips on the cuisine's cooking techniques. He explains how to make these preparations from scratch, including chile pastes, coconut milk and cream, and spice mixtures. 8 pages of color photos.

A guide to bold, authentic Thai cooking from Andy Ricker, the chef and owner of the wildly popular and widely lauded Pok Pok restaurants. After decades spent traveling throughout Thailand, Andy Ricker wanted to bring the country's famed street food stateside. In 2005 he opened Pok Pok, so named for the sound a pestle makes when it strikes a clay mortar, in an old shack in a residential neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Ricker's traditional take on Thai food soon drew the notice of the New York Times and Gourmet magazine, establishing him as a culinary star. Now, with his first cookbook, Ricker tackles head-on the myths that keep people from making Thai food at home: that it's too spicy for the American palate or too difficult to source ingredients. Ricker shares more than fifty of the most popular recipes from Thailand and his Pok Pok restaurants—ranging from Khao Soi Kai (Northern Thai curry noodle soup with chicken) to Som Tam Thai (Central Thai–style papaya salad) to Pok Pok’s now-classic (and obsessed-over) Fish-Sauce Wings. But Pok Pok is more than just a collection of favorite recipes: it is also a master course in Thai cooking from one of the most passionate and knowledgeable authorities on the subject. Clearly written, impeccably tested recipes teach you how to source ingredients; master fundamental Thai cooking techniques and skills; understand flavor profiles that are unique to Southeast Asian cuisine; and combine various dishes to create show-stopping, well-balanced meals for family and friends. Filled with thoughtful, colorful essays about Ricker’s travels and experiences, Pok Pok is not only a definitive resource for home cooks, but also a celebration of the rich history, vibrant culture, and unparalleled deliciousness of Thai food.