Let COOK take you on a vacation this summer. We’ll be traveling around the world via our extensive cookbook library! Follow the blog each week throughout August as we journey to a new region and explore the cuisine. Each destination will be highlighted with a few cookbooks that we carry representing the land. A recipe will be selected from one of the featured books and will be tested by us at COOK to make sure that you, too, can do it at home. First up, we travel halfway across the world to Southeast Asia, known for its picturesque beaches, tropical climate and, of course, delicious cuisine!

Luke Nguyen’s Greater Mekong is the epitome of vacationing through cookbooks! During his time with the Cooking Channel, Luke travelled down the Mekong river, which flows through Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam (Luke’s homeland). During his journey he sampled the cuisines of each country while learning about their culture and communities. All of the dishes and knowledge from the show was distilled down into this book, providing over 70 recipes from the greater Mekong region. This book is your ticket to a river tour from China to Vietnam!

Speaking of Vietnam, get a more in-depth view of Vietnamese cuisine through a vegetarian lens. Author Cameron Stauch spent years living and cooking in Vietnam; he’s even cooked with nuns and monks! Back in April, Cameron visited COOK and put on a vegetarian dinner highlighting recipes from his book Vegetarian Viet Nam, as well as signing a copy for everyone to take home. While you may not be able to get a signed copy, we still have plenty of copies of his book, sure to elevate your cooking with herbs, mushrooms, tofu and more.

Now we travel further south to discover the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. In Cradle of Flavor, James Oseland gives readers a taste of the fiery cuisine he studied for 20 years. With this book you can get a glimpse of Singapore markets and home kitchens in Malaysia. The accessibility of this book makes it easy for any home cook to recreate a bowl of, say, Singapore Stir-Fried Noodles.

If you’re wanting a more down-to-earth view into the food of Thailand, check out The Drinking Food of Thailand! Chef/Restauranteur/Author Andy Ricker has spent years traveling, cooking and eating in Thailand. Ricker puts his knowledge of staple Thai bar food, as well as dishes that are cooked up at parties with friends and family. While Andy provides 50 tasty Thai recipes such as pig’s brain grilled in banana leaf, Isaan bamboo shoot salad, and fish ball noodle soup, he also gives insight into the various restaurants, hotels, back-alleys, and other places where he found the dishes that inspire him. When I read the description to this particular recipe that we’ll be highlighting, I knew it would transport us to a beach somewhere in Thailand! “White sand, clear blue water, palm trees – it’s the Thailand of postcards and of beach vacations in places like Koh Samui, Krabi and Phuket… The food at the huts and other beachfront operations tends to be straightforward seafood preparations like this one: shrimp, shells and heads on, cooked over charcoal and so full of sea flavor they don’t even need a sprinkle of salt”.

Kung Phao (Grilled Prawns)

Serves 4 to 6 

Grilling in Thailand is centered around charcoal. The use of charcoal imparts an added flavor to the dish. The grilled prawns gain a smokey flavor that you cannot replicate on a gas grill. So you will need a charcoal grill for a true taste of Thai grilled prawns. So if you’re like me and you don’t have one, take a mini Summer vacation and visit your parents, friends or coworkers to use theirs. They’ll be glad you did, especially with these prawns!

Ingredients 

• 12 to 16 shell -on, head-on giant prawns (about 2 pounds)
• 1/2 cup Naam Jim Seafood dipping sauce
  • 21 g stemmed fresh green Thai (about 14) or serrano (about 3) chilies
  • 7 cilantro roots
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 7 peeled garlic cloves
  • 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • Small squeeze Meyer lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup Thai fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro

If you are having difficulty sourcing prawns, I suggest visiting Samuel and Sons down in South Philly by the stadiums. You may be familiar with their delivery vans and trucks bearing their logo. Samuel and Sons is one of, if not THE, most prominent seafood distributors in the city. Many restaurants use them as their exclusive purveyor. Originally my plan was to get prawns from Ippolito’s, the Samuel and Sons’ retail shop operating at 13th and Dickinson, however they are closed until the Fall. So head further south to their main facility.

Additionally, I was unable to get cilantro root for the dipping sauce. According to The Drinking Food of Thailand, cilantro in Thailand is commonly sold with the roots still attached. In most American grocery stores, it will be tough to find any with the roots still attached. See if you can find any with longer stems, as you can substitute cilantro stems with a bit of leaves for the roots.

Directions

Prepare the grill by getting it to a medium-high heat. Grill the prawns, turning them once, until their shells turn bright pink and are slightly charred and they are just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.

Transfer to a plate and serve immediately with the dipping sauce…

For the Naam Jim Seafood dipping sauce:

Prepare your grill to cook with medium-high heat. Thread the chilies through a skewer and place them on the grill grate and cook until they are completely blistered. The flesh should be fully softened, but not mushy, it should take about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the chilies from the skewers and use a small knife to mostly peel the exterior.

Combine the cilantro roots (or stems with a bit of leaves) and salt in a mortar and pound them to a fairly smooth, slightly fibrous paste, about 30 seconds. Add the garlic, and pound until fully incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chillies and repeat the process, pounding them into the paste.

Scrape the paste into a bowl and add the lime juice, Meyer lemon juice, fish sauce and sugar and stir well. Let the sauce sit for an hour or two before serving. Just before serving, stir in the cilantro.

Overall the recipe was very easy to follow and execute. Pounding the ingredients into a paste may seem fruitless at first, but give it some time and it will come together. Try out the grilled prawns and dip them in your new go-to seafood sauce for a taste of Thailand.

Next stop, next Monday: the Middle East!