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 Post subject: Pok Pok - Look at this-another Thai cookbook in my bookcase.
PostPosted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 7:32 pm 
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Posts: 1206
Given all the hype before this book came out, I had to get it! But then, it doesn't take much to convince me with some things. :roll:

The book is different from all others I have seen so far. It is very readable, and doesn't have a lot of recipes (I think it said 75). Normally, this would have turned me away, but there is a lot of very useful information, plus variations on recipes, as well. The main thing that makes this different from others, is that most of the book talks about the NW part of Thailand - one which most books mention in passing. There are also some recipes from the NE region - the Isaan region - one that borders Laos; though I have only scanned a few of them, they look delicious. I am still in the first 1/4 of the book - like I said, it is very readable, and has a lot of interesting info on the area and its food.

He calls for key limes, rather than Persian limes, or some lemon juice added, if no key limes are available. Also an unusual type of shrimp paste grinding up the usual kapi with salted Korean shrimp (I originally stated dried shrimp). And pla raa is called for in many recipes, as well as whole pickled gourami - ingredients used mostly in the north and Laos.

It's got some good sections on Thai salads, and a lot of talk about laap. Not much in the way of vegetarian, though I haven't looked closely at much of the book, as I noted.

I'll post thoughts on any dishes I make from the book. So far, they look good.

Here's an Amazon link to show Pok Pok

And here's another related link on Serious Eats

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Last edited by pepperhead212 on Sun Nov 17, 2013 10:15 am, edited 4 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Pok Pok - Look at this-another Thai cookbook in my bookc
PostPosted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 11:44 pm 
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Location: Northern California
Hey Dave,
I read the serious eats article. I think they posted the phat thai recipe which looked good to me. Let us know how the dishes turn out.


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 Post subject: Re: Pok Pok - Look at this-another Thai cookbook in my bookc
PostPosted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 12:27 am 
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Posts: 2011
I have been kicking myself for not going to this restaurant last time I was in NY. Can't wait to hear your review of the cookbook.

Mary


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 Post subject: Re: Pok Pok - Look at this-another Thai cookbook in my bookc
PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 12:03 am 
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Well, you knew it wouldn't take me long!

I tried my first recipe from the book, and it is delicious! It is Jaw Phat Kat, on p. 151 - N. Thai Mustard Green Soup, w/Tamarind and Pork Ribs. Turns out it calls for a fresh green I have growing in my garden - Yu Choy - not a pickled one, as I was expecting. And also, it the intro he mentions that "in Thailand, cooks season with toasted, then pounded disks of fermented, then dried soybean...here we have to settle for yellow bean paste." Turns out, I have some of those disks, which I prepared for recipes in the CB Burma. So I substituted 1 1/2 tb powder plus a little water for the tb of paste. I also made a cup of that Kai Kung, p. 274 - the shrimp paste that uses the Korean pickled shrimp - since I saw that used in many of the recipes. I'll search for the brand he recommends, but I had some brand already, so it'll do.

The flavor of the soup was delicious, as I expected, looking at the ingredients. I changed it a bit, and added some cellophane noodles to it (1 1/2 oz before soaking) to add some bulk, and make it a one dish meal. I cheated by using my already made nam prik pao; since it called for fried chilies and fried shallots, I figured the taste would be very similar. Can't say for sure, since I didn't taste them next to each other, but it was very good. I'll find out if it does taste better the next day, as he claims, though it's hard to imagine it getting better. The sour from the tamarind only is unusual at first, if you are used to vinegar or lime juice creating the sour, but very good. It does tend to dissipate, I have found in some others I have made with it, but I may just add a little when reheating, to make up for it.

I followed the instructions stating that the meat should be cooked until "tender, but not falling off the bones." He states this in many places in the book, saying that the Thais like their meat chewy, not the way most Americans like it, which is falling off the bones. This might be because the more you chew these dishes, the more the layers of flavor develop. The number of ingredients in many of the recipes discourage many, but this is why these kinds of flavors exist.

I just trimmed, cleaned, and Foodsavered over 50 lemongrass stalks today, for freezing, so I will be trying a lot of these recipes in the near future!

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 Post subject: Re: Pok Pok - Look at this-another Thai cookbook in my bookc
PostPosted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 11:20 pm 
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Today I went to two Asian markets for items required to cook from this book. One place I went to for the first time - H-Mart. It is a chain, selling mostly Korean. I got a fresh batch of those salted shrimp, but still not the brand mentioned. The other market I go to most - Vietnamese, and other SE Asian. Here I got the pickled gourami, fresh turmeric, shallots (I re-planted almost all the rest of last years crop), and a few other items. I also got some great mushrooms (they always have incredible buys on many mushrooms), which I used for the next recipe I made from the book. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, a few of the recipes called for blood, which they always have at the Asian market, but I passed on it this time.

I tossed that batch of shrimp paste I made from the old Korean salted shrimp, as the new ones had a much fresher aroma, and I'll just make a fresh batch. The old ones I had in the fridge that I made some with smelled funky, but no worse than preserved shrimp normally smells, but in a side by comparison side they definitely had lost something in 8 months. Not like the shrimp paste, which lasts forever!

I made the Isaan Style Forest Mushroom Salad, p.70, in which I used oyster, king oyster, cremini, and shitaki. It is a vegetarian dish, since there is no fish sauce, and it used some of the very end of my mint harvest of the year. It was delicious! The flavors of the dish were understated, letting the mushrooms shine through. As in the note, I made a "mushroom stock" with the grilled trimmings of some, but then I boiled it down considerably, before measuring out the Tb called for. I served it with a mix of greens (mostly some tatsoi and yu choy, as they seem the strongest of the ones out there), stir-fried like the brussels sprouts recipe, p.91, which is suggested in the book, and sticky rice. The greens added the heat and garlic needed to contrast with the salad, which had some chilis, but mostly for flavor, as they were toasted flakes.

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 Post subject: Re: Pok Pok - Look at this-another Thai cookbook in my bookc
PostPosted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:59 pm 
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Tonight I made the curry paste for the recipe on p. 214 - Northern Thai Curry Noodle Soup with Chicken. That was a recipe that caught my eye, since it was a coconut milk based curry (something I can't resist!), but also because it was unlike any paste I have made, having seeds from a black cardamom pod in it, plus galangal AND ginger. Smells and tastes fantastic! I will make the soup this weekend, but I may change the deep fried noodles to something else - maybe steal a trick from crisping tortillas, and brush some dough with oil, and bake them.

I ordered some spices from a new (to me) place, to get the puya peppers called for in many of these recipes (imagine that - a pepper I didn't have! :oops: ) - https://www.spicesinc.com/t-spices.aspx Prices seemed pretty good, not quite as many spices as Penzey's, but a lot of Indian spices, as well as chile peppers of all types. $35 for free shipping, so I ordered a few other things, one of which was some star anise. Mine seemed to be getting weak - even though you would never guess it smelling the jar, I just noticed it in dishes I'd use it in. It was absolutely unbelievable how much more intense it was than the old, and almsot a different aroma! One of those things like whole cloves, that sort of lasts forever, but it still loses potency. I'll definitely keep most of it in the freezer, from now on.

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 Post subject: Re: Pok Pok - Look at this-another Thai cookbook in my bookc
PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 12:23 am 
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Dave,

Feh, waiting list of 32 people to borrow this book from the Library.

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