Nong's Thai Kitchen

Book excerpt: Only one chef has proved her mastery over celebrity chef Bobby Flay in the Food Network's Pad Thai Throwdown challenge: Nongkran Daks. Now, the master chef and owner of Virginia's renowned Thai Basil restaurant shares her secrets for creating Thai cuisine's most beloved dishes at home--using ingredients that can be found in most grocery stores. In Nong's Thai Kitchen, Daks teams up with veteran food writer Alexandra Greeley to show readers how to prepare classic Thai recipes such as: Chicken with Thai Basil Shrimp Soup in Coconut Milk Spicy Beef Salad with Mint Leaves Roasted Duck Curry Thai food is famous for its balance of sweet, sour, salty and hot flavors. This unique symphony of tastes and sensations is why Thai restaurants and cookbooks have entered the mainstream. What most people don't realize is that once elusive Thai ingredients such as fish sauce, lemongrass, coconut milk, cilantro, basil and shallots are now easily found, making it easy to prepare mouthwatering Thai dishes at home for far less money than they would cost in a restaurant. All the recipes in this essential Thai cookbook are healthy, easy to make and inexpensive, so step into Nong's Thai Kitchen and begin a culinary journey to the tropical heart of Asia!