Light Lunch Thailand by Ruth Paget
I first time I tried Thai cuisine was at Thai 55th in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago when I was a student at the University of Chicago. I absolutely loved satay chicken kebabs with spicy curry dips, stir-fried noodle dishes, and red or green curries over rice. The food was exotically tropical with sleet falling outside and my feet warming up in my snow boots inside.
The following 5 dishes are a great introduction to Thai cuisine. You can now buy green and red curry paste online, which makes many of the book’s recipes a cinch to make.
p.18 – Satay Chicken Skewers
-For marinated chicken:
-chicken strips
-coriander
-turmeric
-cumin
-coconut cream
-dipping sauce
-red curry paste
-peanuts
-coconut milk
-tamarind sauce
p.64 – Hakka-style Fried Noodles
-pork fillet
-reconstituted dried squid
-egg noodles
-light soy sauce
-dark soy sauce
-garlic chives
-bean sprouts
p.68 – Stir-Fried Minced Pork with Chilies and Basil
-Thai chilies
-basil
-garlic
-minced pork
-oyster sauce
-light soy sauce
-eggs
p.236 – Deep-Fried Fish with Turmeric
-white fish
-garlic
-turmeric
-coriander roots
p.244 – Chicken Braised in Rice with Turmeric and Spices
-chicken legs
-curry powder
-turmeric
-coriander
-cumin -cinnamon
-evaporated milk
-jasmine rice
-shallots
In addition to these recipes from Thailand: From the Source published by Lonely Planet, youtube has many videos about Thai food by Mark Wiens.
By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
