2024 the best pad thai recipe review

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From one of the most respected authorities on Thai cooking comes this beautiful and deeply personal ode to Bangkok, the top-ranked travel destination in the world.

WINNER OF THE ART OF EATING PRIZE

Every year, more than 16 million visitors flock to Thailand’s capital city, and leave transfixed by the vibrant culture and unforgettable food they encounter along the way. Thai cuisine is more popular today than ever, yet there is no book that chronicles the real food that Thai people eat every day—until now.

In Bangkok, award-winning author Leela Punyaratabandhu offers 120 recipes that capture the true spirit of the city—from heirloom family dishes to restaurant classics to everyday street eats to modern cosmopolitan fare. Beautiful food and location photography will make this a must-have keepsake for any reader who has fallen under Bangkok’s spell.

From the Publisher

Grilled Pork On Skewers

Mu Ping - Makes 16 Skewers - Serves 4

These pork skewers are best enjoyed as a between-meal snack right out of the plastic bag, standing or walking. But you can serve them on a plate as an accompaniment to warm sticky rice and a bowl of dipping sauce on the side and call it a full-on meal. To get results as close to what you’d get on the streets of Bangkok, grill the pork over natural wood charcoal.

Recipe For 3 Pounds Boneless Pork Shoulder

Soak 16 (10-inch) bamboo skewers in water overnight.

To make the marinade, in a blender, combine all of the ingredients and process until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl. Rinse out the blender.

Slice the pork against the grain on a 40-degree angle into pieces about 1½ inches wide, 2 inches long, and ¼ inch thick. Transfer the pieces to the marinade and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 6 to 12 hours.

To make the sauce, meanwhile, toast all of the chiles in a 12-inch frying pan over medium heat, turning to color evenly on all sides, until fragrant and darkened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the blender, add the tamarind, sugar, lime juice, and fish sauce, and process until smooth. Transfer to a 1-quart saucepan, place over medium heat, bring to a boil, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool. Taste and adjust with more fish sauce if needed. The sauce should taste sour first and then equally sweet and salty. Stir in the cilantro and set aside. (The sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container.)

Divide the pork into 16 equal portions. Thread a portion onto each skewer, running the skewer through each piece as if you are sewing. Then, rather than stretch each piece taut, scrunch it together to form a round bundle that is as tight as possible. If there are any overhangs, tuck them in. The meat should occupy half of the length of each skewer, leaving the other half as a handle.

Light a chimney half full of natural wood charcoal. When all of the charcoal glows in the center and is covered with gray ash, scatter it onto the tray of a hibachi-style grill in a single layer. Position the cooking grate about 3 inches above the charcoal and allow to preheat for about 5 minutes. Oil the grate and arrange the pork skewers on the grate, spacing them about ¼ inch apart. Grill the skewers, flipping them often, until no pink remains and they are charred on the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.

Serve the skewers immediately with the dipping sauce as a snack. Add the sticky rice to make it a meal.

Marinade 6 large cloves garlic ¼ cup packed grated palm sugar ¼ cup oyster sauce 2 tablespoons Thai thin soy sauce or Golden Mountain seasoning sauce 2 tablespoons fish sauce 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro roots or stems 1 teaspoon white peppercorns

Dipping Sauce 5 dried Thai long or guajillo chiles, stemmed 5 dried bird’s eye chiles, stemmed 1 cup tamarind paste, homemade or store-bought ⅓ cup packed grated palm sugar 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice ⅓ cup fish sauce 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves Vegetable oil, for greasing the grill grate Steamed glutinous rice, for serving (optional)

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ten Speed Press; First Edition (May 9, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0399578315
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0399578311
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.92 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.78 x 1.4 x 10.28 inches
Reviewer: Christine C.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Best Thai Cookbook but Buyer Beware
Review: I had always thought Leela Punyaratabandhu is a talented and extremely smart writer, and yet this book has managed to show me I've underestimated how much her work contributes to the body of literature on Thai cuisine. The writing is beautiful, fascinating, informative, intelligent and funny all at once. The photographs are gorgeous. The recipes are very authentic and unusual. You feel like you're traveling and eating through the city of Bangkok with the best tour guide who can cook.I own almost every book on Thai cooking and I can say unequivocally that this beautiful volume is the best one to date. The only caveat is that the recipes are very authentic to the point that they may be too authentic for people with casual interest in Thai food. I was looking at the recipes and feeling somewhat fearful for the author. If you're the type that doesn't like to look for specific ingredients online or go out of your cooking comfort zone, this book is too advanced for you.But if you love Thai food and want to learn about the cuisine and the culture from a true expert, your library should never ever be without this amazing book.I have tried only 2 recipes so far and they turned out very good.

Reviewer: Carol Mathis
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Beautiful Look at Thai Food and Life
Review: This is my favorite kind of cookbook. Beautiful to look at, it's the kind of book you can read for pleasure, to learn about another place and another kind of life, and get a sense of what it is to be Thai, through beautiful descriptions and photographs, as well as recipes you can taste as you read them. The recipes do require some [slightly] challenging ingredients, but you can get them at any Asian grocery store, or on line here at Amazon. The cooking techniques are not difficult, and the end product looks wonderful. If you are interested in cooking delicious Thai food, these recipes are absolutely accessible. If you want to learn something of what it is to live in Thailand, the writing is beautiful and vivid.

Reviewer: Andy Austin
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Beautiful book. Hard to find ingredients.
Review: This is a beautiful book, but my one negative observation is that it was reviewed by several cooking sites as having 'easy to prepare recipes'. I'm sure the recipes aren't difficult - once you find the 30+ ingredients needed for each. Exotic chilis, spices and other ingredients are almost impossible to find even in some Asian groceries. I'd be ok with that if there were substitutions suggested. If you have access to exotic ingredients - or don't mind mail-ordering them - the book is great.

Reviewer: Kroaleen
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: What a joy to read!
Review: Ms. Punyaratabandhu writes in a delightful breezy, personal and very informative manner. Her research into the traditional and family dining recipes is impressive. I read cookbooks like novels, and Southeast Asian food is my favorite. I have a large bookcase of Asian cookbooks and am delighted to have this book join my favors. This book has many recipes that I'm eager to try. A. Lot of them I've never seen before, and there as are some familiar ones that are refined by the author and/ or changed to reflect a more traditional take on the food. A few of the recipes look a bit challenging, and the author acknowledges that they may be, and then she goes on, in explicit detail, on exactly how one can deal with the complexity. It makes all the recipes more approachable and doable. Great Book!

Reviewer: Zorazen
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: but Leela's writing makes me feel like I'm missing my own home
Review: I cannot get enough of this book. I've never been to Thailand, but Leela's writing makes me feel like I'm missing my own home. This is my favorite kind of cookbook, the kind you can sit and read, and it has amazing recipes to boot. I wanted a book with complex recipes and I got it.I've made the Black Pepper Roasted Chicken (my favorite), the Pork Belly Green Juice Curry (broke my blender. Worth it) The Beef Green Curry, (outstanding) and the Shrimp Ramen (an easy recipe that I made way more complex by making shrimp stock, but worth it anyway)Please buy this book, it's one of the best cookbooks I own.

Reviewer: FS
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great balance between storytelling
Review: Great balance between storytelling, recipes, background infos, sourcing tips, etc.Like Leela's blog as well as her previous book this one won't disappoint.Great addition to any Thai cookbook collection, as lots of added information/POV is provided.

Reviewer: rbc
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wonderful!
Review: I bought this for my husband for the holidays, and we are really enjoying the writing and cooking our way through this book. Delicious! Beautiful!

Reviewer: Jessie
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: My husband and I both love Thai food and we can eat it everyday
Review: I almost returned this because I had too many Thai cookbooks including Leela's first cookbook. My husband and I both love Thai food and we can eat it everyday. Our favorite Thai dishes are Phat Ka-Phrao (Spicy beef tenderloin stir fry with holy basil) and Green Curry. Leela's recipe of Phat Ka-Phrao was different from other cookbooks so I was skeptical. I thought I'll try her recipe from this book and will make a decision if it was a keeper. It turned out delicious! And my husband is happy so I am keeping it. I am so glad I did not return it. Thank you Leela!!!!

Reviewer: Richard Harwood
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Great recipes and great background stories about the recipes! Good Job Leela!Grab her first book as well.

Reviewer: carrots
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Beautiful photos and charismatic writing. Fan of her blog so had high hopes- this book is my new favourite recipe book! So far everything I have made from here has been spot on (shrimp dip, morning glory salad, pad Thai, going ob woon Sen, tapioca pudding). If you are familiar with thai food then go for this. A few recipes for things that you might not have heard of and lots of charming anecdotes:) It is up there with Andy rickers and David Thompson's books.

Reviewer: H L
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Good and on time

Reviewer: R. E. Lee
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Memories of Thailand come flooding back whan the wok's in action. This book is one of 140 in my wife's collection of cookery/recipe books and one of the most used.

Reviewer: Hijinx
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Still reading through the book. Does anyone else read their cookbooks like I do? Enjoying the recipes, but don't have a favorite yet.