AND MEAT 94
Vietnamese Honey-glazed Chicken 96
Fragrant Cambodian Chicken 97
Thai Basil Chicken 98
Chicken with Green Curry Paste and Basil 99
Thai Barbecued Chicken 100
Green Curry Chicken 101
Laotian Chicken with Onions and Tomatoes 102
Mild Javanese Chicken Bathed in Coconut Milk 103
Indonesian Grilled Chicken 104
Roast Duck on a Bed of Crispy Noodles 105
Chicken with Mango and Cashews 106
Spicy Tamarind Chicken with Lemongrass 107
Cambodian Garlic Pork 108
Lemongrass Beef with Peanuts 109
Thai Grilled Beef Salad 110
Malaysian Lamb Curry 111
Nonya Soy Braised Pork 112
Simple Thai Pork Omelet 113
Sweet Soy Balinese Pork 114
Thai Red Beef Curry 115
Scrambled Eggs with Chinese Sausages 116
Green Mango Pork 117
Laotian Beef Stew with Asian Herbs 118
Spicy Laotian Ground Beef 119
CHAPTER 5: SEAFOOD AND FISH 120
Crunchy Thai Stuffed Shrimp 122
Marinated Shrimp Skewers 123
Squid with Garlic and Black Pepper 124
Delicate Squid with Thai Herbs 125
Fragrant Steamed Mussels 126
Famous Singapore Chili Crab 127
Fish Mousse with Basil and Red Curry 128
Thai Fried Fish with Ginger Sauce 129
Fish with Sweet Tamarind Sauce 130
Grilled Whole Sambal Fish 131
Fragrant Grilled Fish Cakes 132
Grilled Fish with Sweet Soy Dip 133
CHAPTER 6: VEGETABLES AND TOFU 134
Stir-fried Vegetables with Oyster Sauce 136
Cabbage Braised in Creamy Coconut Milk 137
Spicy Sambal Eggplant 138
Stir-fried Pumpkin and Snowpeas 139
Fragrant Spiced Pineapple 140
Laotian Grilled Eggplant 141
Stir-fried Tofu and Bean Sprouts 142
Red Curry and Tofu 143
Silken Tofu with Chinese Vegetables 144
Fried Tofu with Tomato Sambal 145
CHAPTER 7: DESSERTS 146
Sweet New Year’s Rice Cakes 148
Rice Flour Crêpes with Sweet Cinnamon and Peanut 150
Mangoes with Sweet Sesame Coconut Rice 151
Water Chestnut and Sweet Corn Pudding 152
Sago Pearls with Sweet Coconut Cream 153
Coconut Pancakes 154
Thai Red Rubies in Sweet Coconut Milk 155
Banana and Sago Pudding 156
Balinese Black Rice Pudding 157
Index 158
A Tropical Culinary Adventure
At last, here is the book I have long awaited from a food writer I really trust. Wendy Hutton is one of the too few Western food writers on Asian food who knows her subject inside out. She takes the trouble to research painstakingly and then conveys her knowledge and enthusiasm for Southeast Asian food with recipes that really work.
I have known Wendy for almost 30 years and from the moment we met, recognized in each other a kindred spirit. She was half the editing team who worked on my Complete Asian Cookbook, making an onerous task one of great satisfaction.
Her Singapore Food is the only other cookbook (besides mine) that I keep in my kitchen and actually cook from. We consult each other on matters culinary and track down elusive ingredients with the enthusiasm of bloodhounds. Wendy has a much more adventurous attitude to food than I have and often sends me jottings from the wild, as it were, where her descriptions of dishes she has tried during her travels in Asia fill me with awe.
While we might not all live in a tropical country with mangoes dropping from the trees and lemongrass growing happily in the garden, thanks to immigration, a wide range of Asian ingredients is now readily available in most Western countries. This book will open the door to those exciting hot, sweet, sour, salty, spicy and sometimes bitter flavors which make the food of Southeast Asia such a palate awakening experience. Even for those whose culinary aspirations are limited, this book is an inspiring read as Wendy Hutton shares her experiences and her recipes.
Fabulous Flavors from Bangkok to Bali
Southeast Asia is my adopted home. I came intending to stay two or three years. More than forty years later, I’m still here. How could I possibly tear myself away from such a fascinating region which also—or could this be the real reason?—offers some of the world’s most sublime food.
When I first arrived in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, towards the end of 1967, I was overwhelmed by the astonishing variety of food created by the three major ethnic groups: Malay, Chinese and Indian. It was a revelation to someone who previously had only ever eaten Chinese food, considerably
