World traveling sort of screws you in the food department. Once "authentic" Thai beef soup, Shanghai eels, truly stinky Stinky Taiwan Tofu and proto El Pollo Loco Mexican grilled chicken sears your taste buds, nothing you can order at the closest neighborhood joint lights the same fire. Cookbooks are somewhat in the same vein. Many often try to reduce foreign cuisines into palatable and kitchen ready 30 minute meals with often disappointing results. The recipes are limited to a number of familiar and hybridized dishes, Fried Rice Panda Inn style, rather than the more interesting and tasty Fried Rice with Stinky Dried Fish, minced chicken and Napa Cabbage.

Yearning after this book for years, I finally bought a copy after my Thai food cravings got the best of me. Thompson eschews all the traps of the cookbook authorship by providing a serious tome. The first 137 pages are in fact devoted to Thai culture, culinary history, and glossary of ingredients (including possible substitutions). The rest of the book, all 600 plus pages, are filled with beautiful photographs, detailed yet easy to follow recipes, and relevant techniques. You will not find Thai Iced Tea in the book. The drink doesn't exist except maybe in Touristy Bangkok spots anyway.

Ironically, the first recipe I try is this Chinese lunch favorite, Hainan Chicken because I had most of the ingredients available. I deviated from quantities of rice and garlic very loosely since I didn't know the weight of chicken drum and thigh meat I had on hand. I also used Japanese Nishiki rice, a short grain variety instead of the Jasmine and sticky rice combo the recipe calls for. Neither mistake was famine inducing inedible, but the rice was too wet and overpowered by garlic. While I didn't have a green gourd for the soup, the broth was tasty. I will probably try it with a little bitter melon next time. I suspect Thompson's measurements and timing are perfect and will follow them more closely, but I may add a tiny amount of Shiaoxing to the poaching liquid.

I made one addition not called for in the book - an oil sauce of finely minced ginger and shallot (green onion is better). At Savoy Kitchen in Monterey Park, they serve a small dish (mostly all ginger) right next to the pungent rice. I've also seen this as a condiment for dumplings, the greens sliced into delicate julienne. A plain old roast chicken perks up just as well with the same technique and the method also works as a Classic Chinese "dressing" for steamed fish or egg custard.

1/4 cup very finely minced ginger, fresh root
1/4 cup shallots or green onions very finely minced
3 tbsp hot oil, any clean flavored vegetable oil, not olive oil
1/2 tbsp kosher salt to taste

Ready the ginger and onions in a heat proof bowl and heat a shallow pan. When hot, add oil. As "legs" form at the bottom of the pan, the oil is on the verge of smoking. Pour oil over minced seasoning to "sizzle confidently" (I saw this phrase used in another cookbook). The sauce is pretty salty since the rest of the meal is rather light and the oil should have a definite flavor of ginger and onions but without any bite.