The Elements of Life: A Contemporary Guide to Thai Recipes and Traditions for Healthier Living

by Su-Mei Yu

This beautifully designed book
Written by the IACP Award–winning author of Cracking the Coconut and Asian Grilling , the simple, inspiring recipes and straightforward, easy-to-follow advice found in The Elements of Life will inspire you to live according to the elements and follow a traditional path to health, beauty, longevity, and inner peace.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Health

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book, but not a useful one for someone like me. It is based on the idea that each person has a "home element" of earth, water, wind, or fire. There's a wheel in the back to determine your element, and once you have it, the book has advice on what and how to eat. The recipes sound great, but they require ingredients that would require at least one special grocery store, and possibly two. (I'm not sure 99 Ranch has everything, and I'm not really sure where to go after that.) It is possible that the recipes wouldn't take as long as I think they would, but it seems like most of it wouldn't be worth the effort unless all my meals were from this book, and I don't see that happening.

I would love to go to her restaurant, though!

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Except for the silken tofu with ginger syrup recipe, this book did not hold much worth retaining. Its premise based on Thai philosophy that each of us is born under a "home element" seemed way off base. There is no way I was born under the Earth sign, but it made for some enjoyable Sunday afternoon conversation!

[Catherine Woodman]

in the search for the perfect Asian cookbook, this is a possible addition for a collection of 5-10. it wouldn't stand along, but it would be a good addition to a collection, with an emphasis on Thai. I personally like Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet better.