Thai

Think of this dish from Epicurious member WCASS, from Toronto, as an Asian-style ratatouille. The key to this recipe is speed: the vegetables need little more than a quick toss in a wok or large sauté pan to cook. Look for Chinese eggplants and Thai basil, but small Italian eggplants and regular basil will do. If you like spicier food, you can leave in the chile ribs and some or all of the seeds, and complement the Asian flavors with some sriracha and a mung beangarnish.

A great recipe is like a strong friendship—it gets better with age. Epicurious member Sooz Wolhuter of Laguna Beach, California, crafted this cabbage salad years ago, riffing on a coleslaw recipe. The blend of ribboned cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and green onions mixed with spicy soy and chile garlic is perfect for large gatherings. If peanuts aren’t enough protein for you, add some seared Ahi tuna or grilled sliced chicken to bulk it up.

On the streets of Thailand, where the temperature sometimes soars over 100°, there's nothing more refreshing than a plastic bag of Thai tea! Since most of the tea shops don't have seating, the Thai people take their sweetened iced tea "to go" in a plastic bag with a straw sticking out of it. The flavors of these teas were the inspiration for this dessert. The thing that makes this dish so special is the lime in the caramel, which adds an unusual tang to the sweetness. Another bonus is the crunch and spice of the cashews that are sprinkled over the top of the pudding, adding a wonderful surprise.

After three glasses of wine and about six chocolate chip cookies, my friend Andrew had the idea that I should make a dessert that incorporates the flavors of his favorite sweet drink, Thai iced tea. Despite having had a sufficient amount of wine and cookies myself, it was clear to me what a brilliant idea it was, so the following weekend, we baked a cake.
The sweetened condensed milk in the cake creates a lightly caramelized crust and the Thai tea gives it a beautiful bright orange color. This cake stayed on my mind for days to follow.
Note: look for the Thai tea at Asian specialty grocery stores.

One of the preparations that make Thai cuisine so fresh and refreshing in the tropical heat is its raw vegetable salads that serve as backdrops to fish or meat. The sauce used on these salads is typically a blend of chiles, fish sauce, fresh lime juice, and herbs, with fresh cabbage as one of the side dishes. This Thai slaw is inspired by those classic recipes. Use it as a base for Thai Shrimp tacos (page 59) or for other shrimp or seafood fillings.

After Mexican cuisine, Thai is the one that I consider the most expressive. I find its freshness, sharp chile accents, and cool citrus flavors habit-forming, so much so that I travel to Thailand at least four times a year. One of the most distinctive of Thai flavors is that of kaffir lime. It resembles a large key lime with deep green, warty skin and leaves that have a marvelous, haunting perfume unmatched by those of any other lime or lemon. In this filling, I use the leaf to perfume the coconut sauce that cooks the shrimp. The fruit only grows in tropical climates and the lime itself is very hard to find here, but its fresh or frozen leaves are sold at all Asian markets that stock a lot of Thai ingredients. For this filling, the leaves should be minced very finely (remove the rib) or, preferably, ground to a fine powder in a spice mill, as its flavor is so strong that any large bits of leaf will dominate every mouthful.

This recipe is a good way to use any leftover rice you might have; it can easily be doubled.

Similar greens—such as yow choy, also known as choy sum (which looks almost identical to bok choy but bears small yellow flowers), broccolini, or even regular broccoli—will work well in this dish if you can’t find Chinese broccoli. You can buy wide rice noodles at Asian grocery stores, or use the narrow rice noodles (often labeled “pad thai noodles”) that many supermarkets carry.

Ground, toasted rice adds crunch and a slight nuttiness to this salad. Thai basil, available at gourmet and farmers’ markets, has a licorice flavor, but you can use regular basil instead.

Some varieties of noodles suggest soaking them in boiling water instead of cooking them; check your package instructions before preparing them.

A touch of spicy curry paste makes this sweet-potato soup sing. It is an obvious choice to serve with Asian food, but don’t overlook it for other meals as well. Try the soup with roasted turkey for Thanksgiving, serve it tonight with Pork Chops with Herb Rub (page 196), or warm up a fall picnic by sharing some of it from an insulated container.

A heavy little cast-iron hibachi is R. B.’s favorite outdoor grill for fast and efficient high-heat cooking. Indoors, that efficiency is called the broiler. Both tools use direct high heat to sear tender cuts of meat hot and fast. It’s just that the broiler heats from above, the grill from below. Even better, the broiler gets burning hot in minutes with the turn of a knob. Quick Sticks are a very loose version of Thai satay—thin cuts of chicken and steak rubbed with curry, threaded onto skewers, and quickly broiled. The dipping sauce is first-class cheating—barbecue sauce with some chopped peanuts thrown in. Icy Q-Cumbers (page 153) are a Quick Sticks must.

This luscious mixture is as welcome on raw salads as it is over cooked noodle, grain, or vegetable dishes.

Inspired by the house salad I’ve enjoyed at Thai restaurants, this is the perfect companion to several of the Thai-style dishes in this book. A bigger portion of this can almost be the centerpiece of a meal, served with a simple tofu or tempeh dish.

Here is a pleasing variation on this popular Thai noodle dish. Though the dish is more than fine without it, do try to use fresh lemongrass if possible, as it adds a subtle flavor and scent. Many supermarkets now carry this once-exotic item. But don’t worry if you can’t find it; I’ve made the recipe with and without, and it’s good either way.

Don’t be daunted by the list of ingredients used here; it all comes together quickly, as the idea is to cook everything as briefly as possible. Enveloped in plenty of coconut milk, this dish of noodles and vegetables becomes quite luscious.

Colorful and luscious, this Thai restaurant classic can easily be made at home.

In the classic Thai dish, white rice is combined with white potatoes. Though it sounds rather redundant, the seasonings and embellishments make it delectable nonetheless. I took the general idea of this recipe and revved it up to include the two main ingredients’ more nourishing counterparts—brown rice and sweet potatoes. This may still sound like an odd combination, but honestly, it works very well. Like any dish using brown rice, this will take about forty minutes, but hands-on time is limited, allowing you to prepare any accompaniments at a leisurely pace.