101 Thai Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die: The Essential Recipes, Techniques and Ingredients of Thailand

by Jet Tila, Tad Weyland Fukomoto

The Gold Standard for Authentic Thai Cuisine

In this showstopping collection of must-try Thai dishes, culinary mastermind and bestselling author Jet Tila opens up the world of his Thai heritage for today’s home cooks with recipes that are authentic, accessible and ultra-craveable.

Jet partners up with Tad Weyland Fukumoto, longtime friend and fellow chef, to channel their years of Southeast Asian culinary prowess into mouthwatering recipes, such as Street-Style Basil Pork, Glass Noodle Stir-Fry, Hung Lay Northern Pork Curry, New Thai BBQ Chicken, Fried Tilapia with Three-Flavor Sauce and so many more. They’ve tirelessly perfected these recipes to ensure that their flavors, techniques and quality rank number one across the board—the true gold standard.

With dishes ranging from tantalizing classics and popular street foods to unsung heroes spanning the regions, this cookbook is your one-stop guide to the rich culinary traditions of Thailand. Jet also presents an exciting collection of plant-based takes on popular dishes to welcome everyone to the table and show the range of possibilities in the modern Thai kitchen. Fire up your wok and get hungry for 101 of the best damn Thai dishes you’ll ever have.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Asian Literature

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 25, 2022

Reviews

[Tam Wallace]

I love watching Jet Tila on Food Network. So I checked this book out at the library to see if I wanted to purchase it. I do not. Not because it is badly written, but because it is very meat heavy. The recipes look really easy to follow. They give way more instruction than some other cookbooks (instead of just "heat a pot over medium heat" you are told to "heat a pot over medium heat for about a minute" and other types of instructions). As a culinary student, I like to have specific instructions and often make notes on recipes I am following to include that type of detail. And the tips and techniques he gives you are very helpful. You are not just getting recipes, but what to look for in buying ingredients, the background of dishes, where they are more popular, etc.

But, I have traveled in Thailand, and was able to eat a lot of meals that were not intentionally vegan, they were just vegan. And most of the recipes in this book have a meat component of some type. There was a vegan section, but less than 20 pages. So, if you are a meat eater who wants to learn how to cook Thai food. This would be a good book for you.

[T]

I made the cardinal mistake of reading this whilst incredibly hungry.

[Jessi]

Lots of accessible, simple, but delicious sounding dishes. I always appreciate it when a cookbook keeps its recipes to a single page or less. :)

[Cam]

I can’t wait to try these recipes…. I’ll more than likely buy this book!!!

[Faith J]

you really do need to make every single one of these!! Jet has put years into these recipes, and it shows. He is the culinary ambassador of Thailand for a reason! I love the variety and range across the recipes and the instructions are clear and concise. This is a must for your cookbook shelf!

[Md Reza]

★★★★★

101 Thai Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die is a fantastic celebration of Thai cuisine. I loved how the book brings together a wide range of recipes while also giving attention to the techniques and ingredients that make Thai cooking so distinctive. It feels like more than a collection of recipes—it is an invitation to explore the flavors and traditions behind the dishes.

The variety is a major highlight. From fragrant curries and vibrant stir-fries to noodle dishes, soups, and other Thai favorites, there is plenty to inspire both longtime fans and curious home cooks. The recipes encourage you to experiment with the balance of sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and aromatic flavors that define so much of Thai cooking.

I also appreciated the focus on essential ingredients and cooking techniques. That guidance makes it easier to understand how the dishes come together and gives home cooks greater confidence in the kitchen.

Five stars for its flavorful recipes, thoughtful presentation, and wonderful introduction to the depth and diversity of Thai cuisine. A great cookbook for anyone who loves Thai food and wants to recreate its vibrant flavors at home.

[Wizard]

8/14

I really appreciated the in depth explanations in this book, especially with the curry dishes and curry pastes, because I have been trying to recreate yellow curry for a while! I also appreciated the backstory and history explanations with different dishes. I learned a lot about Thai cooking from the book. I really think it’s worth picking up if you want to experiment in the kitchen and learn some new techniques.

[Shannon]

I'm gonna give this three stars even though I'm not really interested in making anything, I think I just realized I don't like Thai food. 🤷‍♀️

But this book is laid out well, has a lot of pictures but no extra unnecessary stories, and includes weights in grams for measurements. I think some of the ingredients might be difficult to come by, but if you plan on cooking a lot of Thai food I think you'd go out of your way to find them if you had to.

[DC]

The instructions were easier for me to undestand in this volume compared to others I've read recently - but maybe I am just more used to reading about it? The anecdotes are not half as charming as the others, however, and there aren't enough photos.

[Kathleen Long]

Great read. Thorough description of ingredients that I was unfamiliar with and easy directions. I'm glad that I read it; Jet is a great guy. Just one recipe that I will make, but I recommend everyone to read it if you enjoy Thai food.

[Rachel Heller]

I enjoyed reading these Thai recipes and there are some Thai recipes that I might make in the future such as: pineapple fried rice, Thai Beef Salad, and Beef Boat Noodle Soup. Also, for dessert, I would like to make Thai sticky rice with mango. This is a yummy cookbook.

[Kat Day]

Review to follow!

[Butterfly Ang]

Thank you Goodreads! I received this cookbook in a giveaway and our family LOVES it! We have made quite a few recipes from it already and know it will be one we cherish for years to come.

[Chris]

Enticing photos and easy-to-follow recipes for the layman. Borrowed a library copy to preview and will pick up my own copy.

[Pinky]

Want to try the Kuay Teow Sen Yai, the Nam Khao Tod, and the Taohu Lap recipes.

[jess]

grear vegan section!

[Sara]

These curry dishes looked incredible! I would like to revisit these dishes in the future.

[Linda]

Americanized Thai dishes. Accessible to new cooks of Thai food (ingredients, steps) but not really authentic. Some interesting recipes (but don't all cookbooks have these?

[Beka]

Apparently I need to find a really good Thai restaurant because these dishes look amazing!

[Lindsay Merrill]

Very good.

[Janelle Thompson]

I bought this book because I saw Jet Tila on TV and have been impressed with his cooking. While thumbing through the book, I noticed that there were many recipes that I have enjoyed at various restaurants. The recipes looked easy enough to make and with an excellent Asian market nearby ingredients would not be difficult to find.

[Ligaya]

Thai food is one of the few types of cuisine my family rarely attempts cooking at home because the flavors are so complex (for us, anyway) but in this cookbook, Chef Tila details the ingredients you need and why and the numerous Pro Tips help you fine tune your cooking as you go. I was specifically looking for recipes for popular Thai dishes (Pad See Eww, Pad Thai, satays...) but saw some others that definitely look interesting. We cooked up five dishes, they were all successful, but the rice noodles took us forever and I'd go for store-bought next time. The only criticism I have is that not all recipes have a photo that shows what the finished dish looks like! The last Thai/Asian cookbooks we bought were Pacific Flavors and Chopstix by Hugh Carpenter in 1989 and 1990 respectively, but this warrants space on our shelf.