The Curry Guy Thai, a review by Myrna Robins

The Curry Guy Thai

Thai cuisine remains one of the most popular Asian foods, in spite of a focus on Vietnamese, Cambodian and Korean dishes. While keen cooks will stay with their classic Thai collections, there are times when something quick and easy is needed, and a Thai takeaway or restaurant dish made at home will fit the bill.

Dan Toombs Chicken with Cashews

This is when this engaging hardback comes into its own. Published in Australia, featuring well-known chef, author, demo and online presenter Dan Toombs who grew up in California, but now lives and presents his expertise from North Yorkshire. It’s a truly global combination that sees Thai fare that is far more authentic than the Western imitations that are often found at other world cuisine restaurants.

Toombs has collected a feast of the most popular Thai restaurant and takeaway dishes. He sums up the basic principle of Thai food as achieving the right balance of sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavours – by making your Thai favourites at home, adjusting flavours to suit your tastebuds. There is a list of dry and wet ingredients to stock up with, followed by special ingredients like aromatics and vegetables, where he also suggests substitutes if necessary.

Dan Toombs

Recipes for basics include curry pastes, stocks and broths, rice noodles and sauces which he recommends you to make if you want your Thai dishes to be the best.

His starters and appetisers include rice paper rolls dipped into seafood sauce and rolled to contain prawns, avocado, cucumber, basil and coriander. Other delicious bites include curry puffs , tofu puffs, fish cakes, corn fritters, calamari, chicken wings and many more. Salads and soups are up next, with the complex green papaya salad (a favourite with almost every Thai restaurant) opening the selection. But the soups are equally tempting, as they are virtually meals in themselves. There is a short chapter on classic curries featuring chicken, beef and duck, but as Toombs says, you can use other meats and seafood instead if preferred.

Stir-fries, noodle dishes, some seafood specials and rice recipes precede the final chapter of desserts. including an easy recipe for ice cream rolls as served by street food stalls.

This well-illustrated title is likely to become indispensable to Thai fare fans, who can also contact the author with questions and comments.