In our latest series, we’re featuring some of our favourite cookbooks, both Irish and international. Whether you’re a novice in the kitchen or have professional experience, we’ll be highlighting a range of cookbooks that we think every chef should have on their shelf.
This week’s pick is Baan : Recipes and Stories from My Thai Home, which was published in 2019 by Kay Plunkett-Hogge. Born and raised in Bangkok, Kay spoke Thai before she spoke English and has spent more than half her life in Thailand.
The book is an essential guide to Thai cooking and food culture, and features over 120 recipes that Kay has collected from 30+ years of travel around all regions of Thailand, with recipes from friends, acquaintances and street-stall holders. The book reveals all the secrets, kitchen hacks and ingredient substitutions you need to know to make authentic Thai food at home in a Western kitchen.
I lived in Thailand for over a year, so being able to recreate these flavours in my own home makes this one of my most-used cookbooks. Spice paste splatters a lot of the pages in my edition! The word baan means a house or a home, and this book is the epitome of home cooking. Throughout, there’s helpful guides on the basics of what to include in a full Thai meal, how to cook the perfect rice and information on the elements of Thai curries, different spices and more.
Chapters include: Snacks and Aharn Len; Yums, Laarps and Tums; Soups; Stir-fried and Deep-fried; Curries, Stews and Braises; Grilled, Steamed and Baked; Relishes, Dipping Sauces and Pickles; Eggs and Drinks and Desserts.
Cuisine:
Authentic Thai, with recipes ranging from the mountains to the coast and everywhere inbetween.
Who’s it for?
Anyone who loves Thai food! If you’ve cooked Thai food before, you’ll find plenty of new recipes and flavour pairings that will elevate your repertoire. If you’re a novice, there’s lots of useful beginner tips for understanding how and when to use specific ingredients.
Price:
£26 plus shipping.
Favourite Recipes:
Pad Kee Mao (‘Drunkard’s Noodles)
This is a fantastic noodle dish to have up your sleeve, and the flavours go great with either chicken, pork of beef – use whatever you have on hand.
Pad Krapow Moo (Stir-Fried Pork with Basil)
I ate this dish pretty much every day when I lived in Koh Samui, always with a crispy fried egg on top. The yolk mixed in with the fluffy rice and juicy pork mince is delicious.
Gaeng Keow Wan Gai (Thai Green Curry)
Don’t be daunted by the list of ingredients with this one, they’re mainly for the spice paste and you just chuck it all in the blender. This is the best green Thai curry recipe I’ve tried so far and I make it quite often, as evidenced by the spice splatter and dog eared pages.
Peek Gai (Chicken Wings)
Crispy, sticky and full of flavour, these chicken wings are the perfect snack to share (or eat all to yourself!). I like to serve it with the Nam Jim Jaew (roasted chilli dipping sauce) on the side.
Baan : Recipes and Stories from My Thai Home is available to buy online from Waterstones here.
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