| Q. |
What makes Thai food distinctive from other cuisines? |
| A. |
Thai food is very refreshing and offers a unique combination of flavors. It has a good balance and unique blend of exotic and delicious flavors. In one dish you may discover sweet, salty, spicy, and sour at the same time. And it’s never boring to your palette. |
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| Q. |
Is there a good substitute for lemongrass? |
| A. |
Not really. Lemongrass is readily available in most US supermarkets. It freezes very well, so if you can buy it in bunches and store it in the freezer to use as needed. |
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| Q. |
Is there a good substitute for fish sauce and other Thai sauces? |
| A. |
There really is no substitute that has the same flavor. For instance, the Thai sauce that I serve with omelets is similar to a lot of hot sauces on the market, so you can substitute that. But the actual Sriracha sauce that I use is the best on the market. It has enough salty and sweetness to it for the right combination of flavors. The Thai Kitchen brand of this sauce is called Spicy Chile Sauce, and is really good. For the sweet sauce I serve with chicken, there is no substitute. In general, soy sauce could be replaced for fish sauce, but it will result in a different flavor – you will lack the fish flavor of course. |
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| Q. |
Is Thai food a lot like Chinese food? |
| A. |
It is alike only for the stir-fry dishes. All stir frys originate from Chinese cuisine. So yes, lots of Thai stir frys have similar tastes and flavor and they do have a little bit more zing. Techniques are very similar for both Thai and Chinese food though. But technique is only a portion of Thai food. The spicy curry, refreshing salads, and a lot of grilling…more varieties make up Thai food. |
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| Q. |
Do you give culinary tours of Thailand? |
| A. |
Not yet, perhaps with many requests, I would consider. |
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| Q. |
Is making Thai food as hard as it looks? |
| A. |
No, actually, it is easier than it looks - even with a lot of unfamiliar ingredients. With a good inventory of ingredients, and a little bit of knife skill, you should be able to tackle Thai or any Asian recipes with no problem. |
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| Q. |
How can I get involved in one of your cooking classes? |
| A. |
Check the calendar on our web site for this information – list page link.
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| Q. |
What are the most important ingredients in Thai cooking? |
| A. |
lemongrass & limes, of course are important flavors, but really the most important ingredient is freshness. Because Thai cooking is about a balance of flavors, or mixing together flavors we often see as opposites—spicy and sweet, sweet and sour—in a way that creates excitement and invigorates the senses, there are many important ingredients. Certainly coconut milk, basil, cilantro, kaffir lime leaves, chile peppers, and palm sugar are important also.
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| Q. |
What makes Thai food so appealing to American tastes? |
| A. |
I think as Americans, we tend to get into ruts eating the same foods—or the same takeout or drive-thru—week after week. The textures and flavors in Thai are unlike hamburgers or pizza or even Chinese food, so that’s a start. I also think people like Thai because it’s fun food to eat, and the street food of Thailand is healthier than mall food, Pad Thai has a world of textures and flavors, and who doesn’t enjoy a good spring roll with sauce to dip it in. It’s communal, family food and that is appealing to Americans when they cook at home.
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| Q. |
What are your family's favorite Thai foods? |
| A. |
My daughter, Anna loves to cook but she’s a picky eater. When we visit Thailand each summer, my mother has to make dried Thai Beef for my husband and my son, who eats this dish with fried eggs for breakfast. The whole family enjoys Pad Thai – it’s a noodle dish, so the kids like it, and with its bits of crunch and great flavor it makes Dennis and me happy too. The cook is happy because it is quick and easy!
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| Q. |
Your father has an interesting history - what was it like growing up with a spy? |
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Yes, my father was away a lot when I was growing up. He worked for the government as a spy in Burma, and even to this day he’s the first stop for the Burmese immigrants when they need help, since he’s one of the few people in our town who speaks Karen and Burmese. My paternal grandfather died when my father was a child, so with four other children to raise his mother sent him to be educated by Buddhist monks. When he was nineteen, he was recruited by the Thai version of the CIA. He has a bullet in his chin that appeared when I was about ten. Every time I visit, I learn something new. |
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| Q. |
Like you, your mother stayed at home to raise her three children. What lessons did you learn from her? |
| A. |
My mother and I are very close and I admire her tremendously, especially now that I have a family of my own. She is an inspiration for my life for so many reasons, but mainly because of her grace and the great love and affection she gave us. It doesn’t sound like a big deal but she didn’t grow up with the kind of attention she gave us and I can see what a difference that quality of attention can make in a child’s life. |
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| Q. |
Publishing a book is a huge undertaking. What made you decide to write and publish lemongrass & limes? |
| A. |
It’s hard to point to a single factor other than my passion for the food of my native country. In Thailand, most people have master’s degrees and I had gone to school for horticulture but decided it was not the path for me. I saw that for me, it’s better to do what you love than to be a dummy with a PhD. I didn’t know until I was married how much I loved to cook, but then I felt I had to pursue it as far as I can. I also want more people to know about this great food, and to let people know that Thai food is not complicated and full of ingredients you can’t find. We’re all becoming more international than our parents were, and there are certainly more foods in supermarkets from other countries you would not have been able to find at all even twenty years ago. Also, working with FRP made it easy enough that I could get this book to market and concentrate on selling it as a one-person business.
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