Kalaya's Southern Thai Kitchen: A Cookbook

by Nok Suntaranon, Natalie Jesionka (primary_contributor)

Bring the bold, spicy, beautiful world of Southern Thai cooking to your kitchen through 100 recipes and stories from the James Beard Award–winning chef and celebrated ambassador of Thai food in the U.S.Growing up in the tropical region of Southern Thailand, Nok Suntaranon helped her mother make the fresh curry pastes she would sell at their local market. But decades later she returned home and saw that the food had become sweeter and watered down, victim to shortcuts and appealing to tourists. So, her life mission became to find and preserve the old flavors of Thai food and to show home cooks how delicious and intricately flavored Thai cooking is.Kalaya's Southern Thai Kitchen is organized so home cooks can master this food with confidence and ease. With suggested recipe pairings featured on each recipe, traditional and modern recipe names, and beginner materials such as the Sauce and Paste or the Foundations of Southern Thai food chapters—Nok is there with you every step of the way in mastering Thai cooking at home.Nok dispels the stereotypes that Thai food is hard to make, or that it is synonymous with cheap takeout. From fragrant lemongrass and pungent shrimp paste to simple curry pastes, this is the fiery, refined cuisine of her homeland. Through over 100 recipes, you'll find new favorites such as Som Tom (Papaya Salad with Tamarind Paste and Dry Chili), Gaeng Ghai (Southern Style Chicken Curry), Nua Yang (Grilled Beef with Thai Chili Dipping Sauce), and Khao Niew Ma Muang (Mango Sticky Rice). With easy-to-follow visuals, beginner-friendly tips, and stunning on-location photography, Kalaya's Southern Thai Kitchen allows cooks of all experience to bring a piece of Thailand into their homes and kitchens.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published November 5, 2024

Reviews

[Reading Fool · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had heard the author's name previously when she won a James Beard award last year. I had also read that her restaurant in Philadelphia was in the NY Times list of Top 50 Restaurants in America. So I was excited to dive into this cookbook and try some of her recipes. First, a lesson in Thai cuisine, which she presents in her opening chapters. Very instructive. I started with something simple and familiar, Panang Gai (chicken panang curry). Fantastic and delicious; my family loved it. I also tried one of the desserts, Nok's Vanilla Coconut Milk Panna Cotta with Pineapple. This was excellent and great to make for company! I really enjoyed this cookbook, especially Nok's stories and the beautiful photos. Clarkson Potter provided me with a free copy of this book; the opinions are my own.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading #1
Read in hardcover (owned)
Cookbook, Southern Thai recipes, Kalaya restaurant
Highly recommend (5/5)

Love this cookbook! The restaurant Kalaya is out of this world - offering amazingly delicious dishes. The recipes in here are approachable and possible to make with common ingredients plus ingredients found at Asian-specialty markets. So many great stories and traditions shared in this book as well. I know I’ll be re-reading this and referencing this cookbook for years to come.

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d never sat down and read a cookbook from cover to cover until today. Each recipe starts with a short story and I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. The visuals are stunning, and I’m so excited to replicate some of my favorite meals and flavors from Kalaya!

[Kerry Croucier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before opening this cookbook, I would have told you I loved Thai food. Once I opened it, as Nok says, I can readily admit that the Thai food I know is Americanized. Nok Suntaranon, James Beard award winner and chef/owner of Kalaya in Philadelphia, introduces the world to her Thai dishes in KALAYA’S SOUTHERN THAI KITCHEN, and it’s beautiful, spicy, and full of flavor. I wish I could visit her restaurant and try these dishes completely her way. In the Introduction, she’s encouraging but is a bit demanding that the recipes be tried the way they are written, with all the chilis and no spice substitutions. I understand that it’s best to try recipes the way they are written, I always do, but some of them are a bit intimidating. There are so many tasty recipes, but I do see myself trying the curries when I have more time to devote to putting the sauces together. I see myself living in the sections that are bit quicker: tom (soups), pad & thod (stir fry, deep fry, wok fry), and yang (grill), like the Nua Yaang (grilled beef with Thai chili dipping sauce), yum! The meal makers is a section full of tasty recipes. I love that there are so many recipes that are fairly quick and easy, perfect for weeknights, but also full of flavor and fancy enough for guests. I recommend this beautifully photographed cookbook for anyone who wants to expand their horizons!
Thanks to Clarkson Potter for the free copy of the cookbook. All opinions are my own and freely given.

[Charles Eldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really warmed up to this cookbook. At first I didn’t see it earning a place on my shelves, but as the cookbook progresses to really showcase the southern Thailand flavors of the author’s youth the book begins to whet the appetite.

The side sauces/dips, curries, braised dishes, and desserts are the recipes I plan to use in my home.

I enjoyed the personal stories attached to almost every recipe. The photography was good and plentiful.

This book was borrowed from my local library system but I immediately ordered it after finishing. It will be a nice component to my favorite northern Thailand cookbook Night+Market.

[Matthew Shur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg (x3), this is everything. I first became aware of Kalaya and the chef via an NPR show. This cookbook is incredible—I was *instantly* inspired, and whipped up a spicy, umami yum. There is a WHOLE lot I’d love to try out from this book… I have a feeling I’ll be perusing it quite a bit!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many recipes call for ingredients that are not readily available in most markets. Because of this, Insomt be trying many recipes. Bonus: photos of all recipes and recipes contained to one page.