Customer Reviews

The Vegetarian Table: Thailand

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great book! Easy to follow instructions take the mystery out of Thai cooking while the beautiful illustrations are a feast for the eye. When non-vegetarians tell me that vegetarian food is boring, I use this cookbook to prove them wrong and get rave reviews at the table. Be sure to try the Jungle curry.

This book has a lot of good recipes. Unfortunately, I am not convinced the recipes were designed for vegetarians. Many of the recipes have ingredient lists like "Fish sauce (or light soy sauce)".

Apart from that, book has lots of pretty pictures, is well organized and has most of the Thai food that vegetarians would order in a restaurant (curries, pad thai, pineapple fried rice). No Drunken Noodle though!

Interesting combinations, easy to understand, easy to find ingredients (well, in Toronto's Chinatown it is). Try the Spiced Corn Cakes with Cucumber Dipping Sauces and the Hot and Sour Thai Soup,and the Golden Spring Rolls.

I just wanted to say to anyone who thinks this was not meant for veggies, should have read the intro. The Author explains how to substitute, say fish sauce, with light soy or other kinds of combinations to achieve the same flavors. The Pad thai is wonderful as well as the stir-fry's and soups. I recommend you at least try it on for size

I'm a huge fan of thai food and was skeptical that I could go vegetarian and still cook thai but this cookbook has great recipes! It has a number of really tasty curries like the root vegetable curry, the jungle curry and others. And the flavors are full and alive. I'm really happy with tyhe recipes I've tried so far and plan to keep on cookin'. Very happy I bought the book.

This book offers some tasty recipes and sauces, but a lot of the recipes are a little complicated. They have too many ingredients and are time consuming. I only use the recipes for the sauces (the sweet chili sauce is especially tasty and great for dipping veggies or spring rolls).

...knowing the definition of a word you use in your title would be a start! The author of this book states at the beginning that some Thai people choose to eat fish because the fish are "stupid enough to swim into a net and get caught." This is completely offensive to any true vegetarian who orders a cookbook that is supposed to be based on a peaceful diet. If a human is murderous and violent enough to set a trap in the first place, yeah, they might kill a fish, but who is the "stupid" one here? I can't help but feel the need to rebut such a ridiculous statement. Should a fish not swim in its natural habitat? Should all creatures surrender their homes to the human animals? Pretty soon bats will be peeking around corners, wondering if it's safe to even fly; there might be nets, after all...

Excuse my disgust, but I sure hope this is the last supposedly-vegetarian-yet-includes-sealife cookbook I ever buy.

To get the quibbles out of the way:
1) It appears to not be "strictly" vegetarian, as I believe some recipes call for hard cooked eggs or fried / scrambled eggs (for the fried rice). Might sneak in under the guise of lacto-ovo-vegetarian.

2) Vegetarian doesn't necessarily mean low-fat. This book does seem to make liberal use of frying and oils that probably raise the fat content of the dishes. Granted they're probably prepared in the authentic style and it's not specifically marketed as a low-fat book. So, I won't dock them points for it. Just noting that if you're going low-fat, this may require some heavy adaptation to lower the fat content. If you don't care about fat content, then this book seem to be great for many traditional recipes. Though they're not always simple to prepare.

3) That brings us to part 3. The dishes aren't always easy to prepare. Personally, I'm not sure how to cut the innards out of a halved pineapple without mangling it, though the presentation of pineapple friend rice does look lovely. Many of the recipes seem designed for restaurant-style presentation and possibly chefs, as opposed to the average Joe in the kitchen looking for a taste of Thailand without too much frustration (though some recipes are easier than others). However, they do also note that it is traditional in Thailand to serve with decoration or garnishes even when home cooking. IE, cooks take pride in their work. So, again, it seems authentic if a bit more work.

All that said, this looks to have a lot of really good and yummy recipes if you're into Thai cooking and willing to put in some kitchen time. Some of the sauces and recipes can be combined in creative ways (it already has my mind working on how to adapt some of their sweet & spicy sauces to make a slightly sweeter spring roll, but without making it overpowering or soggy).

It includes many lovely pictures of the dishes (though not of all dishes). Sometimes it's not specific on which dish is being pictured on a given page (no caption or mention of which page the recipe comes from; though I think it's usually either the facing page or the other side of the sheet).

Certainly a good addition to any kitchen where ethnic foods are enjoyed and prepared regularly. Those who enjoy this book might enjoy the others in the series: America, Mexico, Italy, Japan.