Real Vegetarian Thai

by Nancie McDermott

Book Overview

"Real Thai" has gone vegetarian Everyone loves Thai food, but it's not easy to find truly meatless dishes. Thai cooking expert Nancie McDermott has developed inventive variations on traditional... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811811514
• Release Date: March 1997
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

How much more reassurance do you need? This is exceptional!

To date, all of the reviews here grant four or five stars to this book - and I am no exception. This little red book contains the most delicious selection of vegetarian Thai recipes that I have encountered in my 15 years of cooking vegetarian meals. Not only are the recipes quite easy in preparation, but they also are based on easily available ingredients and are very quick to make. The outcome is almost always exceptional - both in taste and presentation. I can wholeheartedly recommend this book as a valuable addition to anyone's collection of cookbooks. As you can see from the other reviews, I am not alone. So, what are you waiting for? It's rare to find such a unanimously positive opinion about anything.

Delicious recipes, well laid-out book

Vegetarians have long bewailed the difficulty of making Thai food: almost every ready-made Thai curry paste available contains shrimp or worse. Now it is possible to concoct your own! McDermott has created an Eastern cookbook with a Western eye, taking the mystery out of this delicious cuisine. Recipes are categorised along familiar lines, exotic ingredients are explained in a glossary and sources listed, unusual techniques (from opening a coconut to roasting chillis) are fully explained. This cookbook is very helpful indeed: there's even a bibliography and a list of menu suggestions, you can alter the amount of heat in a dish to taste (I'm a wimp about chillis and am doing fine), and she is not too snobbish to suggest replacements, such as ginger if galanga is unavailable. The lay-out is clear and easy to follow, and there are several interesting anecdotes about McDermott's travels in Thailand and the traditional Thai way of life.The recipes are imaginative, healthy, straightforward to make, and they work beautifully. Many of them are vegan, and adaptations are usually suggested for those which are not. A "Basic Recipes" section gives recipes for essentials such as the different curry pastes, roasted chilli paste, vegetable stock, and "mushroom mince" (which she has invented to replace minced meat in traditional recipes).Some examples of recipes included are:Crispy spring rolls with sweet and hot garlic sauceGreen papaya saladJasmine rice soup with mushrooms, green onions and crispy garlicRed curry with eggplant and sweet peppersButternut squash in fresh green curryFirecracker broccoliCoconut ice creamThai iced teaTo my surprise, Thai cookery turned out not just to be possible for vegetarians and vegans (an astonishing number of recipes are here, and meat-eaters will certainly not feel deprived), but the ingredients are easy to find, the recipes easy to make, and the results are dazzling.

One of the Most Usefull Cookbooks in My Library

This book has so many great recepies for just about any palate. Sometimes the recepies can look a little daunting and complicated, but it assumes you're using all fresh ingredients, which you don't always have to. After all, cumin powder is in my opinion just as good as fresh cumin seeds. Or more available anyway. Basically, once you take the time to create a few of the "staple" ingredients in this book (red and green curry paste are essential), you can make just about anything in here quickly and cheaply. And it's GOOD! I'm never going to forget the look on my friends' faces when I came out with an eggplant curry that I'd made from this book. Everyone was amazed. So if you want to do something different, and you're a bit creative, this book is for you.

real thai indeed!

This is a GREAT cookbook. I've just recently turned vegetarian and was worried that in doing so I wouldn't be able to enjoy thai food anymore but his cookbook makes it easy! The recipes are VERY authentic and oh so tasty! I made the satay with grilled vegetables (marinated) with a sweet/sour cucumber salad last night and let me just say YUM! I'm very pleased and glad I have this cookbook in my collection

Excellent Thai cookbook

I own several Thai cookbooks, but this one is my favorite hands down. Like any Thai cookbook, the recipes require some advance preparation to make the sauces and curry pastes, but once you set aside a few hours to prepare the basic recipes the meals are quick, easy, and delicious. The author's love of Thai food really comes through. I whole heartedly recommend it.