Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-11-04 09:54:15
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Andy Ricker
- ISBN：1607742888
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Summary
A guide to bold， authentic Thai cooking from Andy Ricker， the chef and owner of the wildly popular and widely lauded Pok Pok restaurants。
After decades spent traveling throughout Thailand， Andy Ricker wanted to bring the country's famed street food stateside。 In 2005 he opened Pok Pok， so named for the sound a pestle makes when it strikes a clay mortar， in an old shack in a residential neighborhood of Portland， Oregon。 Ricker's traditional take on Thai food soon drew the notice of the New York Times and Gourmetmagazine， establishing him as a culinary star。 Now， with his first cookbook， Ricker tackles head-on the myths that keep people from making Thai food at home， that it's too spicy for the American palate or too difficult to source ingredients。 Fifty knockout recipes for simple and delicious Thai dishes range from Grilled Pork Collar with Spicy Dipping Sauce and Iced Greens to Andy's now-famous Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings。 Including a primer in Thai techniques and flavor profiles， with tips for modifying local produce to mimic Thai flavors， Pok Pok makes authentic Thai food accessible to American home cooks。
After decades spent traveling throughout Thailand， Andy Ricker wanted to bring the country's famed street food stateside。 In 2005 he opened Pok Pok， so named for the sound a pestle makes when it strikes a clay mortar， in an old shack in a residential neighborhood of Portland， Oregon。 Ricker's traditional take on Thai food soon drew the notice of the New York Times and Gourmetmagazine， establishing him as a culinary star。 Now， with his first cookbook， Ricker tackles head-on the myths that keep people from making Thai food at home， that it's too spicy for the American palate or too difficult to source ingredients。 Fifty knockout recipes for simple and delicious Thai dishes range from Grilled Pork Collar with Spicy Dipping Sauce and Iced Greens to Andy's now-famous Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings。 Including a primer in Thai techniques and flavor profiles， with tips for modifying local produce to mimic Thai flavors， Pok Pok makes authentic Thai food accessible to American home cooks。
Reviews
Julius Alexander
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Good to read but a bit full on unless you have access to a good range of Thai ingredients。 Very few （if any） of the recipes are straight-forward。
Erik Berman
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Interesting stories along with recipes。
William Cohen
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Great stories and recipes， but too involved for the average home cook to ever do each recipe by the book
Eva
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Beautiful pictures， delicious recipes
Sanne
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Beautiful book。 Good explanation of regions， foods and flavors。
Sweta Agrawal
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Quality recipes， though sometimes perhaps a little over-complicated。 Still was a great reference for after we got back from thailand and were craving some delicious thai foods。
Raheel Shaharyar
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As somebody who really enjoys Thai food I had really been looking forward to this book when it was first published and bought it as soon as I was able to。 I enjoyed the writing and the personal anecdotes that the author had peppered throughout the book。 I found the approach to cooking his particular style of Thai food not very approachable。 I have eaten in his restaurant， the food was amazing and one I would definitely go back to。 This book however is not one that I turn to on a regular basis。 I As somebody who really enjoys Thai food I had really been looking forward to this book when it was first published and bought it as soon as I was able to。 I enjoyed the writing and the personal anecdotes that the author had peppered throughout the book。 I found the approach to cooking his particular style of Thai food not very approachable。 I have eaten in his restaurant， the food was amazing and one I would definitely go back to。 This book however is not one that I turn to on a regular basis。 If you ever read the Chez Pim blog from the late 2000s her recipes were way more approachable and easy to follow。her restaurant in San Francisco now actually also has a Michelin star and is also delicious！ 。。。more
Teddy
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I feel many of the reviews of this book come from those who may not have much experience with truly authentic thai food。 Andy Ricker does his best to recreate and capture the thai palate， a task that is greatly varied and difficult to nail down。 The stories， accompanying text， show his command of the ingredients at hand， however some recipes are rather lackluster。 As a person of Thai heritage， raised on home cooked thai food， cooking thai food myself， and regular frequenter of the best authentic I feel many of the reviews of this book come from those who may not have much experience with truly authentic thai food。 Andy Ricker does his best to recreate and capture the thai palate， a task that is greatly varied and difficult to nail down。 The stories， accompanying text， show his command of the ingredients at hand， however some recipes are rather lackluster。 As a person of Thai heritage， raised on home cooked thai food， cooking thai food myself， and regular frequenter of the best authentic Thai restaurants in Los Angeles， I found this book's strength not in the recipes， but rather in the stories， light history， and imagery。 Note: I've only tried 1/2 the recipes or so according to text， and always felt something was missing。 Thai food relies so much on the chef's preferences， and adjusting to taste， something this book doesn't communicate。 。。。more
Adam Clark
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the recipes in this cookbook are phenomenal。 i was never disappointed and often looked forward to the labor of love involved in cooking each meal。 the only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that the amount of special equipment needed， the difficulty of finding some of the ingredients， and the time it takes to make each meal （especially if you need to make the fried shallots or shrimp paste or whatever before you even start a recipe） is a big of a drag if you don't have time or are tir the recipes in this cookbook are phenomenal。 i was never disappointed and often looked forward to the labor of love involved in cooking each meal。 the only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that the amount of special equipment needed， the difficulty of finding some of the ingredients， and the time it takes to make each meal （especially if you need to make the fried shallots or shrimp paste or whatever before you even start a recipe） is a big of a drag if you don't have time or are tired。 it's a bit of a niche hobbyist situation。still， i enjoyed the intense and unusual flavor profiles and i know that when i have time， the effort is entirely worth it。 。。。more
Jennie
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This is a great cookbook。 The recipes require a certain level of dedication; there's no dumbing-down going on here， and you'll need to be ready to invest in ingredients and equipment。 Unfortunately that means I haven't tried many of them， but the ones I have tried have been great。 This is a great cookbook。 The recipes require a certain level of dedication; there's no dumbing-down going on here， and you'll need to be ready to invest in ingredients and equipment。 Unfortunately that means I haven't tried many of them， but the ones I have tried have been great。 。。。more
Jackson Matthews
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Even though we love Thai Taste， it is nice to have some recipes that we can make at home because the recipes so good！
eb
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Insufferable white dude pedantry about “authentic Thai food” amidst some impressive， delicious， and impossibly difficult recipes。 I have no doubt that this is well-researched and largely accurate representation of the flavors， methods， and even the spirit of Thai cooking， even in instances where we see a version or a take on something traditional， but the voice— at once long-suffering， admonishing， and holier-than-thou— was the worst of mansplaining blather。 Sorry， Pok Pok— I’d rather eat bastar Insufferable white dude pedantry about “authentic Thai food” amidst some impressive， delicious， and impossibly difficult recipes。 I have no doubt that this is well-researched and largely accurate representation of the flavors， methods， and even the spirit of Thai cooking， even in instances where we see a version or a take on something traditional， but the voice— at once long-suffering， admonishing， and holier-than-thou— was the worst of mansplaining blather。 Sorry， Pok Pok— I’d rather eat bastardized pad Thai with a real Thai human and laugh about it than suffer this joyless lesson in what’s “authentic” according to you。 。。。more
Beka
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Very thorough and in-depth， however there are too many hard to find ingredients for me to be able to cook from it。
Dray
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Great book。 Most recepes are new to me。 Surprised how many require shrimp paste。 Does a fairly good job in showing the regional varietion of Thai cooking。 Couldn't agree more that American Thai is an invented menu for americans。 If you want the real thing， read this book。 I loved the sides on his favorite people from Thailand。 Great book。 Most recepes are new to me。 Surprised how many require shrimp paste。 Does a fairly good job in showing the regional varietion of Thai cooking。 Couldn't agree more that American Thai is an invented menu for americans。 If you want the real thing， read this book。 I loved the sides on his favorite people from Thailand。 。。。more
Laura
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A beautiful cookbook - that makes you want to travel and eat。 however I found the ingredients daunting - the thought of having to track them down。 Although the recipes looked so much more authentic to what I have eaten in Thailand than many other books。 One to go back to when I have the urge to cook thai
Carrie
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Interesting take on Thai cooking for American readersI have not made any of the recipes from this book yet。 They are a bit intimidating。That being said， I love the food at Pok Pok， and have some experience with cooking Burmese food （from family）。 So I wanted to get into trying out some Thai dishes。 I have marked several that seem approachable for a first try。The background stories are what make this cookbook fun and more informative。 You get a sense for where each dish comes from。I really apprec Interesting take on Thai cooking for American readersI have not made any of the recipes from this book yet。 They are a bit intimidating。That being said， I love the food at Pok Pok， and have some experience with cooking Burmese food （from family）。 So I wanted to get into trying out some Thai dishes。 I have marked several that seem approachable for a first try。The background stories are what make this cookbook fun and more informative。 You get a sense for where each dish comes from。I really appreciate the included flavor profiles for each dish， which also reminds me of Burmese cooking。 。。。more
Diego Barriga
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Great book on authentic Thai cooking。It does require upscaling of your kitchen however
Kathy Roaleen
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Authentic Thai-with some "hacks" to duplicate authentic。 Enjoyable read with lots of interesting recipes。 Recommend to anyone that is interested in the real deal。 Authentic Thai-with some "hacks" to duplicate authentic。 Enjoyable read with lots of interesting recipes。 Recommend to anyone that is interested in the real deal。 。。。more
Sophia
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Bursting with information， will make you fall in love or reinforce your love of Thai culture。 Also just a really gorgeous book
Scott Taylor
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I haven't cooked much from this yet， but loved reading about the adventures and learning about new ingredients and styles。 I haven't cooked much from this yet， but loved reading about the adventures and learning about new ingredients and styles。 。。。more
Laura Belle
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I lived one block up from the original Pok Pok shack when they first opened a decade or so ago。 It was an amazing and dangerous place for my bus to drop me off。 The air scented with lemongrass， garlic and game hens， roasting on the charcoal grill。My sister and brother in law bought this cookbook for me when I moved to Seattle and couldn't get my Ike's fish sauce Wings fix as regularly。 I make my version of the wings and always get compliments。 FISH SAUCE FTW！！ I was actually just at the Wing Sho I lived one block up from the original Pok Pok shack when they first opened a decade or so ago。 It was an amazing and dangerous place for my bus to drop me off。 The air scented with lemongrass， garlic and game hens， roasting on the charcoal grill。My sister and brother in law bought this cookbook for me when I moved to Seattle and couldn't get my Ike's fish sauce Wings fix as regularly。 I make my version of the wings and always get compliments。 FISH SAUCE FTW！！ I was actually just at the Wing Shop on Milwaukie two days ago getting my latest fix of the OG！ so many fantastic，recipes in this book。 I make the Kai yaang with coconut rice and pok pok salad for christmas！ Try it！！！ I am certain you will like these recipes。 。。。more
Beverly
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too foreign for me - at least for book club。 everything needed a la minut prep
Ryan
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The recipes look amazing， but have lots of ingredients and take some planning to pull off。 Probably wouldn't cook much from this book in practice。 The recipes look amazing， but have lots of ingredients and take some planning to pull off。 Probably wouldn't cook much from this book in practice。 。。。more
Jennifer
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Fun！ But I will never make anything from this cookbook。 I'd rather go out for Thai than go shopping for hard-to-find-in-America ingredients。 And any excuse to go to Pok Pok makes me happy。 Fun！ But I will never make anything from this cookbook。 I'd rather go out for Thai than go shopping for hard-to-find-in-America ingredients。 And any excuse to go to Pok Pok makes me happy。 。。。more
Degan Walters
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Pok Pok and Chef Andy Ricker are famous and I have driven by it so many times， wanting to try but dissuaded by the line。 I hate lines。 So I thought I would check out the cookbook and see what I was missing， knowing that I likely wouldn't be able to source or properly make a lot of the unfamiliar Thai recipes。 He contradicts me almost immediately by debunking these arguments and writing， "let me acknowledge my two seemingly conflicting tasks: dispensing with with myths that keep people from makin Pok Pok and Chef Andy Ricker are famous and I have driven by it so many times， wanting to try but dissuaded by the line。 I hate lines。 So I thought I would check out the cookbook and see what I was missing， knowing that I likely wouldn't be able to source or properly make a lot of the unfamiliar Thai recipes。 He contradicts me almost immediately by debunking these arguments and writing， "let me acknowledge my two seemingly conflicting tasks: dispensing with with myths that keep people from making Thai food at home in the first place but also recognizing the effort it entails。 You shouldn't be dissuaded by nonsense， but you should also know what you're getting into。"The writing is clear and honest， the recipes are delicious looking and he offers substitutions and resources for hard to find ingredients as well as including special equipment needs for each recipe。 Additionally， he has bios about his "mentors" and teachers across Thailand， a much nicer approach than going on about himself for half the book。I didn't have a chance to make any of the recipes before I returned the book to the library but I noted several that I would like to， and will definitely be making a point of standing in the Pok Pok line next time I'm in PDX。 。。。more
Todd
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Contains the best sausage recipe ever。 Some of the ingredients can be difficult to acquire， however。
Claire
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Gorgeous and thorough but not terribly accessible for the home cook
Pussadee
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It is one of best Thai cook books because it also represents Thai culture and locality。If you want to learn how to cook Thai food and learning Thai culture， you should start to read this book。
Amuse
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Too much detail。 Written by the uber-expert on Thai food。 I was introduced to Richter through his curry paste recipes。
Brian
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