In Thailand, where fish sauce and shrimp paste flavor many recipes, vegetarian food is typically difficult to find, outside a few dedicated restaurants and an annual festival.
So Simply Vegetarian Thai Cooking (Robert Rose, $19.95) offers 125 recipes and myriad techniques for vegetarians and vegans that omit hallmark ingredients, and can't be considered authentic, but do produce inventive and delicious results. Author Nancie McDermott taught English as a second language in Thailand for three years and, although she didn't study the country's cuisine formally, returned with a passion for its food and a desire to translate her experience to others.
She organizes the book in American-style chapters featuring appetizers and snacks; salads; soups; curries; stir-fries and main dishes; rice and noodles; sweets and drinks; basic recipes; and suggested menus (themes include "too hot to cook" and "your kids will love it").
In the back is a glossary where the cookbook's more obscure ingredients and terms are explained. The basic recipes -- which include no fewer than five curry pastes and six sauces, including a homemade sriracha -- are the building blocks for recipes in previous chapters.
The book's curry pastes are far superior to jarred options and are worth a little effort with a mortar and pestle or food processor. After that, main dishes are prepared fairly easily. Green Curry with Zucchini and Bamboo Shoots; Yellow Curry with Pineapple and Peas; and Jasmine Rice made a quick, satisfying dinner.
Our main quibble with the book is in the design: The basic recipe pages often don't refer to pages on which recipes call for them, which overcomplicates navigation of the recipes in the book.
Food on 04/15/2015