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Simple Thai Food: Classic Recipes from the Thai Home Kitchen [A Cookbook] Hardcover – May 13, 2014

by Leela Punyaratabandhu (Author)

4.6 1,136 ratings

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Thai takeout meets authentic, regional flavors in this collection of 100 recipes for easy, economical, and accessible Thai classics—from the rising star behind the blog She Simmers.

Who can say no to a delicious plate of Pad Thai with Shrimp; a fresh, tangy Green Papaya Salad; golden Fried Spring Rolls; or a rich, savory Pork Toast with Cucumber Relish? Thai food is not only one of the most vibrant, wonderfully varied cuisines in the world, it also happens to be one of the tastiest, and a favorite among American eaters.

The good news is, with the right ingredients and a few basic tools and techniques, authentic Thai food is easily within reach of home cooks. Take it from Leela Punyaratabandhu, a Bangkok native and author of the popular Thai cooking blog She Simmers. In her much-anticipated debut cookbook, Leela shares her favorite recipes for classic Thai fare, including beloved family recipes, popular street food specialties, and iconic dishes from Thai restaurant menus around the world.

All of Leela’s recipes have been tested and tweaked to ensure that even the busiest cook can prepare them at home. With chapters on key ingredients and tools, base recipes, one-plate meals, classic rice accompaniments, and even Thai sweets, Simple Thai Food is a complete primer for anyone who wants to give Thai cooking a try. By the end of the book, you’ll be whipping up tom yam soup and duck red curry that will put your local takeout joint to shame. But perhaps more importantly, you’ll discover an exciting new world of Thai flavors and dishes—including Stir-Fried Chicken with Chile Jam, Leaf-Wrapped Salad Bites, and Crispy Wings with Three-Flavored Sauce—that will open your eyes to all the wonderful possibilities that real Thai cooking has to offer.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Many ethnic cuisines seem forbidding to the home chef because exotic ingredients aren’t readily available and because of the required painstaking (and time-consuming) preparations. Relax in the hands of newbie author and experienced food-blogger Punyaratabandhu, who streamlines her way to the table with popular dishes like satay, pad thai, curries, and congees, among others. Not content with simplifying instructions, she also identifies which foodstuffs can accept substitutes and which can’t (like lemongrass and galangal). Even better, there’s an appended list of online ordering sources for those nonmetro dwellers. The more than 100 recipes fall into one of four categories: noshes and nibbles, rice accompaniments, one-plate or bowl meals, and sweets, each with a colorful preface. With her instructions (and assurances), readers just might try oxtail soup, rice congee with pork dumplings and eggs, herb-baked cashews, and pumpkin custard. Many of the basic recipes that inform Thai cooking are gathered at the back, from steamed glutinous rice (aka sticky rice) to all types of curry paste. This is a new appreciation for a quiet cuisine. --Barbara Jacobs

Review

"Thai has long been underrepresented in my pantry, my refrigerator and on my cookbook shelves because I never felt I had enough support to cook much beyond a beef curry made with canned coconut milk and a commercial red curry paste. Punyaratabandhu's practical and calming tone -- plus her delicious-sounding recipes -- make me want to do much more Thai cooking." - The Chicago Tribune

"I have generally found "Quick," "Easy," and "Simple" to be disingenuous labels when it comes to Thai cookbooks [...] But Punyaratabandhu seems to pull it off, coming up with recipes that are weeknight-doable yet electric with ingredients you can just about find if you try hard [...]. Shortcuts or not, they're desperately delicious." - National Public Radio "... blogger Leela Punyaratabandhu (shesimmers.com) has a way of marrying convenience with high flavor ...." - GOOD READS OF 2014, National Public Radio

"Punyaratabandhu [...] does simplify the complexity of Thai cuisine. [...] To write this book, she travelled back to Bangkok where she visited friends and family and interviewed street vendors and other cooks so she could best capture the flavours of her home country in a way that a North American could get." - The Globe and Mail "... Punyaratabandhu's [...] a masterful hand-holder: If you love Thai food but the ingredients and preparation have you cowed, this is the book to get ..." - THE 20 BEST COOKBOOKS OF 2014, The Globe and Mail

"... The work developed into this, her first cookbook, and it shows a confidence and care absent in many books by more seasoned authors. [...] "Simple Thai Food" is what it says: unusually simple, and still really Thai. It's written with grace, dedication, and humor, and there's nothing like it on the market. [...] In other words, if you want a single Thai book, this is it." - The Boston Globe "... Written by the popular shesimmers.com blogger, this is the best home Thai book currently available ..." - TOP 10 COOKBOOKS OF 2014, The Boston Globe

"Simple Thai Food [...] takes a measured approach to traditional Thai cuisine; it is neither dogmatic nor full of shortcuts. [...] Punyaratabandhu writes most of these recipes as she would prepare them for Thai guests [...]. Yet in her extensive and detailed headnotes, she includes helpful hints for preparation, shopping tips, and, most importantly, good ideas for substitutes. In this way, readers are given a wealth of options, none more (or less) delicious than the last ..." - THE YEAR IN COOKBOOKS: OUR FAVORITE READS OF 2014, Serious Eats

About the Author

Leela Punyaratabandhu grew up in a traditional Thai home in the heart of Bangkok where cooking was taken very seriously. She created the cooking blog She Simmers, which in 2012 was voted “Best Regional Cuisine” blog by Saveur. Her writing has appeared in CNN Travel, a website on Asian travel destinations by CNN International, and the award-winning food website Serious Eats, among others. Leela divides her time between Chicago and Bangkok.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction
When I started my website, shesimmers.com, in 2008, I had no idea where it would lead. At the time, my only goal was to document the best, most tried-and-true Thai recipes from my mother’s cookbook collection. She had passed away a few weeks earlier, and cooking, photographing, and sharing the recipes was my way of honoring her memory.
My mother started sending her cookbooks to me in the early 2000s, when I moved to Chicago for school. Although I continued to return frequently to my hometown of Bangkok, Mom was concerned that I would forget how to cook the dishes that I grew up with—or, worse yet, that I would forget how Thai food in Thailand tastes.
She need not have worried. Cooking from Mom’s collection helped me stay connected to my roots, and blogging about Thai food on my website inspired me to share my love of Thai history, culture, and language—as well as different food spots in the country—with others.
Today, I write about Thai food and culture not only for my website but also for other online and print publications, and I love interacting with my readers, most of whom are non-Thais living in the West. What I have learned is that many of them—too many—are filled with dread at the thought of trying to make their favorite Thai dishes at home.
I sympathize with them. Acquiring the fresh ingredients necessary to make a classic Thai dish entirely from scratch is often either impossible or too costly to be worth the effort. At the same time, many American cooks feel that cracking open a can of Thai curry paste is cheating. They worry that if they take shortcuts, an angry Thai grandmother will jump out from behind the nearest potted plant with a stun gun.
Although it is true that several Thai dishes absolutely require that you invest time and money in sourcing hard-to-find ingredients, such as kaffir lime and galangal, to replicate their flavors faithfully, many dishes that are just as traditional are made with everyday ingredients that are stocked in most markets.
My goal with Simple Thai Food is to show readers how easy it is to re-create traditional flavors—and the classic Thai dishes I grew up eating—at home. Once you have built a pantry of essential Thai ingredients (see page 3), whipping up delicious tom yam kung (page 86), drunkard’s noodles (page 133), or cashew chicken (page 61) takes less time and is more affordable than calling up your local takeout joint.
In choosing which recipes and methods to include in this book, I have unwaveringly adhered to three guiding principles: foundation, feasibility, and fun. The alliteration, trust me, is accidental.
Foundation. This book is rooted in the food that I grew up eating and cooking in Bangkok, where I was born and raised. The recipes represent Thai food as I have experienced it in my life. These are dishes that I am proud to serve to my family and friends, dishes that I know will not make them back slowly away from the table with their hands up, demanding to know what on earth this unknown, made‑up fare is. This is my foundation. This is the food I cook when I am longing for the taste of home.
None of the recipes is unique to this book. In other words, my goal is not to invent new Thai-inspired recipes but rather to guide you through the process of re-creating dishes that are well known in Thailand as well as in Thai restaurants in the United States. Because I was raised in Bangkok, my tastes naturally skew more toward the dishes I grew up eating. But today, with the gap between how Thai food is made in Thailand and how it is made elsewhere in the world narrowing with each passing year, the recipes in this book will not be foreign to anyone.
Feasibility. My goal is not only to faithfully re-create the food I love but also to ensure that Thai food fans everywhere can cook the dishes at home. That means that I have had to choose and adapt recipes for home cooks whose kitchens are not equipped with every tool necessary to make Thai dishes the traditional way, and I have had to offer substitutions for harder-to-find fresh Thai ingredients.
The unavailability of fresh ingredients is one problem that affects everyone from veteran chefs to novice cooks. But the good news is that as Thai food becomes more popular, more and more Thai pantry staples, such as tamarind pulp, coconut cream, and curry pastes, are available at well-stocked grocery stores. Better yet, if you live in an area with an Asian market, you can often find affordable, Thai-imported versions of these and other essentials, such as thin soy sauce, dark sweet soy sauce, and dried shrimp. If you do not have access to an Asian grocer, your best shot for finding some ingredients will be to order them online, and I have listed some reliable online sources on page 217. But because some of you may be hesitant to take the plunge into online grocery shopping, I have provided many ingredient substitutions, particularly for fresh produce items (Chinese broccoli, Chinese water morning glory, long beans) that are hard to locate in many areas of the United States.
Fun. Cuisine exists to serve us, not the other way around, and cooking should be enjoyable. Some of the recipes in this book are ridiculously easy; some take a bit of effort. I have attempted to lay out the steps for every recipe in a way that makes them doable for even the novice cook. Complicated steps have been streamlined, and substitutions are suggested. None of the recipes requires any gadget or gizmo that you do not already have or cannot easily find.

--------------------------------

Herb-Baked Cashews
met mamuang himma-phan op samunphrai

I drink so little alcohol that the amount that I consume each year is barely enough to fill a soup bowl. And much of that is in the form of a wine cooler or a light beer. I just do not have a taste for alcohol. But all my friends and cousins love me because I am the perfect designated driver, the person who is willing to go sit with them at a bar in Bangkok and drink overpriced soda and nosh all night on the quintessential Thai bar snack, seasoned fried cashews. This is the baked version of those sweet-and-sour fried nuts, with a touch of herbal fragrance and a little bit of heat.
Makes 2-1/2 cups

1 pound raw whole cashews
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1⁄4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
Grated zest of 1 lime
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon minced green onion, green part only
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon red chile powder

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix well, making sure that the cashews are evenly coated with the seasonings. Spread the cashews in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet, leaving as much space as possible between them.

Bake the nuts, stirring them every 5 minutes, until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the baking sheet before serving or storing. The cashews can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. But trust me: they will be gone long before that.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ten Speed Press (May 13, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 236 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1607745232
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1607745235
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.9 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.71 x 0.95 x 9.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #100,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10 in Thai Cooking, Food & Wine
- #21 in Southeast Asian Cooking, Food & Wine
- #561 in Quick & Easy Cooking (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 1,136 ratings

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Leela Punyaratabandhu

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Leela Punyaratabandhu (pronounced boon-yuh-RUHT-tuh-puhn) is a writer based in Chicago, Illinois. She has authored three books on Thai cuisine as well as the newsletter focusing on Thai food in America, The Epestle.

From 2008 to 2021, Leela wrote about Thai cuisine on her former cooking blog, SheSimmers.com which was named the best Regional Cuisine blog in 2012 by Saveur Magazine. In 2017, she was named one of the 100 Greatest Home Cooks of All Time by Epicurious. Her book, Bangkok, won the prestigious Art of Eating Prize, which is awarded to one single best food book of the year, in 2018. Leela’s writing and interviews have appeared in the New York Times, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Bon Appétit, Epicurious, and many others.

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Customers say

Customers find the recipes tasty and easy to follow. They appreciate the author's advice on unique Thai ingredients and practical wisdom about cooking in non-Thai kitchens. The writing quality is praised as well-written and thought-out, with personal anecdotes. Readers appreciate the information provided about Thai home cooking, including principles behind the dishes and substitutions. The book has beautiful pictures and a good balance of descriptions and illustrations. Overall, customers consider it a valuable resource that provides good value for money.

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Recipes Ingredients Writing quality Information quality Visual quality Value for money

107 customers mention "Recipes"96 positive11 negative

Customers find the recipes tasty and easy to follow. They appreciate the introductions for most recipes that provide background information on the recipe and acceptable convenience foods. The dishes are described as comforting, delicious, and simple to prepare. While the food sounds authentic, it is not simple.

"...But if you want a lot of good, comforting, tasty, easy to prepare meals for not much in the way of either your time or your money; and a really fun..." Read more

"...One does wish the publishers had included more photos, but the dishes are excellent with or without the visual aid...." Read more

"...made 3 recipes from here (2 curries, 1 dessert) and both were undoubtedly Thai-tasting, which is a big deal to someone who's just started delving..." Read more

"...He said the instructions are very clear and the cooking is fairly simple...." Read more

31 customers mention "Ingredients"27 positive4 negative

Customers appreciate the book's advice on Thai ingredients. They find the recipes authentic and practical, with a variety of sauces and spicy pastes. The instructions are clear, and the author provides resources for substitutions. While some readers describe the cuisine as exotic, others say it contains everyday homemade meals that they grew up with.

"...and a really fun education in the simple home cooking of a joyous, exotic cuisine, then don't wait. Life is short. Take the plunge. Get this book...." Read more

"...the recipes with me. Every recipe I have made has that authentic Thai flavor...." Read more

"...at a few other Thai cookbooks and found this book contained the most day-to-day homemade meals that I grew up with...." Read more

"This book allowed me to make the leap into authentic Thai cuisine. Every recipe I've tried is stellar...." Read more

31 customers mention "Writing quality"29 positive2 negative

Customers find the book well-written, easy to follow, and edited. They enjoy the personal anecdotes and find the writing style enjoyable. The recipes are high-quality and the story is engaging. Overall, customers describe the book as a standout Thai cookbook with true recipes and a beautiful story of keeping a family's legacy alive.

"...The book is indeed beautiful. Organized and efficient layout, great photography, simply, clearly and entertainingly written (much like her blog),..." Read more

"...My favorite aspect of this book is the quality of the writing—not usually a major factor in cookbooks...." Read more

"...detailed general explanations, and very informative - and conveniently structured - recipes...." Read more

"...From cover to cover, tested and true recipes and a beautiful story of keeping a family's legacy alive for future generations...." Read more

28 customers mention "Information quality"28 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's information quality good. It provides an introduction to Thai home cooking with principles, tips, and substitutions. The book covers all the basics, including a brief description of each dish. Readers appreciate the thorough comments and helpful suggestions for substituting ingredients.

"...unwilling to provide those, then even this smartly written, extraordinarily helpful, fact filled book can't help you...." Read more

"...more than lockstep directions for a single dish; she teaches the principles behind the dish, the sauces, and the condiments so that you can feel..." Read more

"...in here are a great way to start Thai cooking, and have livened up my recipe bank for sure...." Read more

"...Thank you Leela, you have really improved our cooking and eating!" Read more

24 customers mention "Visual quality"20 positive4 negative

Customers appreciate the book's visual quality. They find the pictures beautiful and the author's style great. The book has a good balance of pictures and descriptions, which they like.

"...The book is indeed beautiful. Organized and efficient layout, great photography, simply, clearly and entertainingly written (much like her blog),..." Read more

"...To sum it up: This book has great writing and photography, and is a sometimes helpful, but often times frustrating guide to achieving true Thai..." Read more

"...Photos are very nice, and the book itself is a very nice read. Got it a few weeks back, made two recipes so far -..." Read more

"...BTW, this book makes a great gift. It's not just good info, it's mighty pretty." Read more

5 customers mention "Value for money"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book offers good value for money. They say the Phanaeng curry recipe is worth the price and there are enough recipes.

"...Overall, a good addition to your cookbook repertoire and, imo, worth the $14 I paid for it even if I base it on how much I'll save not ordering..." Read more

"...There is not pictures of every recipe but there is a decent amount...." Read more

"...other recipes, but in my case the Phanaeng curry recipe was worth the price of the book. Yes, it was THAT good!" Read more

"...are harder to find, if you do so, they are well worth the investment or exploration...." Read more

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Chilewheel
Like a great first date: good to look at, fun to get acquainted with, and the promise of a beautiful relationship
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2015
Verified Purchase

Whether you are a home or professional cook,Thai experienced or an utter novice, both to the cuisine and the kitchen, "Simple Thai Food" will give you an easy, user friendly, visually appealing and information filled introduction, to Thai home cooking.

I was stunned when I received my copy. The book is indeed beautiful. Organized and efficient layout, great photography, simply, clearly and entertainingly written (much like her blog), with lots of useful and well sourced information. I won't rehash what other reviewers have said about the layout and contents. The book is just damned easy to use. You have to try hard not to find it useful and helpful.

I am a professional cook, who's been learning and loving Thai food for a couple decades. Home cooking is what I do. None of the dishes or recipes in the book are complex. Even if your experience in the craft of cooking is virtually nil, you can still make these recipes for your family, friends, or, as frequently occurs in my situation, dinner for one. Easy, peasy, limey squeezy.

One caveat. Not about the book. About the user. If you're a "food as fuel" type of person and the only cooking you do, or want to do, is of the super simple microwave, and/or no prep time invested variety, then this book won't be able to help you. Good cooking, (not necessarily the same as "fast" coooking) even the simple stuff, requires really only two things out side of the basic equipment, i.e., heat source, cooking vessel, knife, something to stir with: a bit of your time and a little effort. If you're unable or unwilling to provide those, then even this smartly written, extraordinarily helpful, fact filled book can't help you.

But if you want a lot of good, comforting, tasty, easy to prepare meals for not much in the way of either your time or your money; and a really fun education in the simple home cooking of a joyous, exotic cuisine, then don't wait. Life is short. Take the plunge. Get this book. Your taste buds, your family and your friends will thank you.

After all. No risk, no reward. Just like that first date.

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J. Sutton
Genuine Thai Food and Culture
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
I have lived in Thailand and have cooked Thai food at home for many years now. Without question, this is the best Thai cookbook I have ever had--and I've had many. In addition, it is the best book about cooking of any type I have ever had. If you like Thai food and are interested in Thai culture, this is the book for you. I also bought the Kindle version and put it on my smart phone so that I always have the recipes with me.
Every recipe I have made has that authentic Thai flavor. If you are used to Mall-Food-Court Thai food you may not recognize many of the dishes in this book. These recipes are the "real deal" from the Ox Tail Tom Yum (which is delicious!!) to the variations on Som Tam and other salads. In this book, Leela gives you more than lockstep directions for a single dish; she teaches the principles behind the dish, the sauces, and the condiments so that you can feel comfortable experimenting and exploring other possibilities.
My favorite aspect of this book is the quality of the writing—not usually a major factor in cookbooks. But as a thirty-year veteran of teaching writing at the college level, I value good writing. I guess that’s why this is the only cookbook I ever read cover to cover for the sheer enjoyment of it. Leela’s passion for Thai food and culture is evident in every page of the book. She relates memories from her childhood in Thailand with images of family life hinting at the central role that food preparation and consumption play in Thai culture. It’s all part of the Thai philosophy of “sanuk” which involves the Buddhist concept of “awareness,” and of “enjoying life” to the fullest. It’s a more serious version of “Don’t worry. Be happy.” She also relates some humorous anecdotes which reflect the culture, such as her explanation of the name of the dish “Son-in-law Eggs.” You simply must read that recipe!
One does wish the publishers had included more photos, but the dishes are excellent with or without the visual aid. An alternative is to go to Leela’s Blog at SheSimmer.com. There you will find more pictures and much entertaining reading.

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Ruth Page
Nice easy tasty dishes
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 11, 2024
Verified Purchase

Easy to make and very tasty.

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Kindle Customer
Simple and flavourful recipes
Reviewed in India on January 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
Thee recipes are so easy to Follow and so well written. Wonderful book for anyone who wants to try their hands in Thai cooking .

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jose finger
Good recipes
Reviewed in Brazil on April 4, 2020
Verified Purchase
This book may be even small in size, but it is rich in recipes

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Alexanderplatz
Like a warm hug
Reviewed in Germany on September 21, 2019
Verified Purchase
First off, I rarely buy cookcooks to methodically work through the recipes, following them religiously. A cook book buy is a success if there's one or two or maybe even three of those dishes that I will cook over and over, fiddling with them as I go. Unless the recipe tells me that certain ingredients are vital (and Leela does that, which I appreciate) I will bastardise at my leisure.
I do feel that quite a few recipes are already altered slightly for Western readers, for example by using chicken breast or other boneless cuts for curries and stir fries, when based on her blog she would probably much prefer to use a whole chicken, or at least bone in cuts, or chicken thighs. The recipes are easy to follow and thoroughly written, so even if you've never prepared lemon grass before for example you feel like you can confidently proceed. All special equipment and ingredients are explained, with replacements if appropriate and tips on where to get them.
Leela is not only a dedicated home cook obsessed with culinary history but a great writer, and I love reading even the recipes I know I will never make.
One thing I would like to mention: if you are a strict vegetarian, this might not be the book for you. A lot of the delicious funky umami flavours come from fish sauce, oyster sauce, dried shrimp and products that are not vegetarian if you buy an authentic version. It might still inspire you thought, and it's a great read. Working off a combination of her blog and the book for example I was able to create a pretty decent Tom Kha Hed ( vegetarian Tom Kha with mushrooms) and I regularly make a vegetarian version of the cashew chicken stir fry. With chicken, it's one of my girlfriend's favourite meals, and it's become an absolute staple in my house for that reason.
So, for me, this book has provided me with recipes that are authentic, doable and make me want to cook them over and over.

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Mark Hardman
Very poor
Reviewed in Singapore on March 25, 2022
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Very poor content

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5.0 out of 5 stars Like a great first date: good to look at, fun to get acquainted with, and the promise of a beautiful relationship

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5.0 out of 5 stars Nice easy tasty dishes

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple and flavourful recipes

5.0 out of 5 stars Good recipes

5.0 out of 5 stars Like a warm hug

1.0 out of 5 stars Very poor

Like a great first date: good to look at, fun to get acquainted with, and the promise of a beautiful relationship

Genuine Thai Food and Culture

Nice easy tasty dishes

Simple and flavourful recipes

Good recipes

Like a warm hug

Very poor