Robert Danhi - Easy Thai Cooking: 75 Family-style Dishes You can Prepare in Minutes

Acknowledgments

The last two decades traveling through Thai-land I have been honored to meet hundreds, if not thousands of talented cooks and chefs. I spend several months a year in Southeast Asia and without all my friends I have made travel would not be as easy, and I would certainly not learn as much about these dynamic food focused cultures. I thank each and every person that I have met along the way, each of you have formed the unique adventures I have been privileged to have experienced.

The idea for the book was sparked online. Social media has become an important part of my personal and business lives. Once I got hooked on Twitter (@chefdanhitweets) I met lots of really cool people, some even as obsessed with food as me. I discovered a blog Rasamalaysia.com that was founded, written, photographed and managed by the talented Bee Yinn Low, a Malaysian by birth, she and I hit it off immediately. She and her husband came over to cook a Malaysian Feast for a guest blog post and soon there after she introduced me to Eric Oey and Bud Sperry of Periplus Editions (Hong Kong) Ltd. Thanks Bee!

My next trip to Asia I met with Eric Oey of Periplus in Singapore at the always pleasant Grand Hyatt and having a long discussion and fabulous Thai meal prepared by David Thompson (more on him later). We both agreed to partner on this book, and for that he connected me to Bud Sperry, my editor. Bud was a pleasure to work with and as we passed recipes back and forth discussing the nuances of a recipes, I was able to develop all the recipes and the rest of my manuscript in less that 6 months. Thank you Bud for making my words flow, stories make sense, and grammar correct. I also appreciate the team that step into play at this stage of the publishing process, June Chong and Chan Sow Yun of Periplus Singapore office. Gail Tok and the marketing team from Periplus Singapore. A big thank you goes to the dynamic team of Christian Clements for food photography and Susie Donald for food styling, they were able to capture the essence of my recipes.

Writing a book is an arduous task, and one that is never the sole focus of your daily professional and personal life, its something you fit into your already hectic life and the pressure it puts on your spouse is drastic. This was all handled with grace by my ever beautiful wife, Estrellita Leong-Danhi, whom most refer to as Esther. Now, more than two-decades of being a supportive spouse, business partner and best friend, I have her to thank for my success more than anyone else. Her hands on approach keeps our test kitchen running some days, and our household everyday. You are solely responsible for introducing me to Southeast Asia and that has helped me become who I am today. Thank you my love, I am forever grateful and cannot believe we made it through writing yet another book. Get ready, you know another is coming soon.

Ari Slatkin my loyal Sous Chef for years stepped up to the plate again and was the main man on recipe testing for the entire book. Months of testing and retesting recipes he did not let up. I do appreciate all your intellectual and culinary contributions to all the work we do. Looking back at my test kitchen, for months stone mortar and pestles proudly sat next to gram scales and temperature probes as Brad Kent, the artesian pizza scientist and chef was occasionally called in to balance the workload and give me more time to cook every Thai recipe myself. Paul Foster, nearly twenty years of friendship and fellow chef once again jumped in and helped in the test kitchen as we juggled back and forth between recipe for this book and all the other culinary projects with my clients.

The amount of food that is used testing the recipes over and over was enormous, and fortunately I have friends at Melissas World Variety Produce, especially Robert Schueller, the Director of Public Relations. He personally delivered incalculable pounds of aromatic lemongrass, various Asian greens, hands of ginger and galangal, bags of fiery red chilies, and even mangos by the case. They are always at the ready to provide me with building blocks of flavor around the country as I travel and teach about Southeast Asian Foods, a sincere thanks to you and all the team at Melissas. With Thai food there is often Thai Singha Beer (at least with my meals) and Charles Chaicharee, Singha Beers Director of Marketing Communications and Business Development has been very supportive when I do special eventskop khun maak kop for the bubbling malt!

A unique thanks goes out to those that have been my Thai achaan, teachers, as a fellow teacher I have a deep respect for you and the generosity you continue provide through educating people about your culture. I hope to continue your mission and bring the culinary foodways to the world. Khun Ning and Khun Kobkaew of Khao Cooking School, whom I first met in the USA and have cooked with in Thailand extensively. You are both some of the most gentle and talented people I know. Thank you for being not only my respected teachers also my dear friends. Thank you for introducing me to Chef David Thompson, whom I consider one of the great teachers of Thai food culture.

David has become my guiding light in my research on Thai food. While he was testing the recipes for his seminal mammoth picturesque book on Thai street food, I flew to Bangkok to cook with him, his sweet partner Tanongsak Yordwai and talented chef Jane Alty, a marathon of market visits, cutting, pounding, frying, boiling we created some amazing Thai food. Thank you for allowing me intimate access to your vast knowledge of Thai food, I have prevailed as a better cook. Many questions arose during the crafting of this book, he was always there with an answer. With deep gratitude, David, I look forward to a lifetime of learning and friendship.

Tik, you and your family welcomed me into your home and I will cherish that time forever, not to mention I still cook the Pumpkin and Pork with Scallions your lovely wife Gladporn Ongad taught me. Chiang Mai adventures with the first clean cut intellectual former monk and preppy Thai I have ever met, I look forward to seeing you again soon! Some Thai folks have been instrumental in getting me access to the real Thai culture and am forever grateful. Fah Vorarittinapa, a former student of mine at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and now long time friend and her family in Thailand. Khun Aom, the bubbly Bangkokian as she likes to be called. Thank you for being my guide around Bangkok and being my translator on call and handling all those calls when I handed a phone to a Thai and asked you to solve the issue or answer a question.

Fortunately Thailands government realizes the importance food plays in their culture and they have the business sense to support the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and all their efforts using food to lure people to the land of smiles. I have collaborated with the TAT for years and have been fortunate to have help and guidance from such champions of Thailand, especially Khun Charinee based with me here in Los Angeles, thanks to Khun Jam-long Ratanapan, Executive Director of TAT that guides the entire team I work with.

Within my consulting business, Chef Danhi & Co. (chefdanhi.com), we work with restaurants, food manufacturers and all sorts of professional associations and the Thailands Department of Export Promotion (DEP) has been a big help, especially Executive Director, Khun Chantira Jimreivat Vivatrat who has created and launched several successful Thai Food Promotions, Deputy Director Chappon Rochanasena and Fon Duangporn for her Facebook prowess and help on all the projects. Congratulations goes to Chanchai Doungjit, the Director Western United States and Latin America for managing these dynamic people.

Twenty-five years in the food business and I have too many people to thank than can be listed here. From my first job as a dishwasher to being an executive chef, the restaurant world is where I began. My alma mater, The Culinary Institute of America deserves a lifelong appreciation and thanks, the faculty and staff laid the foundation that I still stand on today. As a young culinarian you taught me that the culinary arts as a real profession and should be treated as such. Coming back to teach there for several years was a highlight of my career, a true honor and a immense learning opportunity, lessons I refer to daily. The CIA rocks!