Any ideas for a cookbook for a vegetarian who loves Southeast Asian flavors?

ssridharan
  • 6982 views
  • 8 Comments

8 Comments

luvcookbooks February 7, 2014
Hey, this is not really Asian but Deborah Madison's comprehensive vegetarian cookbook has a lot of Asian recipes. If you like old cookbooks, Kenneth Lo wrote a great vegetarian Chinese cookbook in the 70s.
 
Andrea N. February 6, 2014
One of the best way to approach this is to mine favorite cookbooks, such as ones on Vietnamese and Thai cooking. Look in the tofu and vegetable section and if the recipe includes fish sauce, replace it with soy sauce and a touch of extra salt. That's what I tell readers of "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen"; you can also sub tofu or tempeh, if you prep/cook it to render its texture ready for prime time. For readers of "Asian Tofu" -- there's a wealth of recipes to choose from and again, the obstacle is basically replacing the fish sauce or shrimp paste with soy sauce and/or salt. There is a ton of tofu cooking ideas that you can borrow from the Chinese and Japanese (e.g., mix in ground nori for umami!). If you can handle a bit of seafood, it wouldn't be an issue with finding a ton of Southeast Asian recipes to cook from. Vegetarian cooking in Southeast Asia often is okay with a touch of seafood involved via condiments; some folks are flexible Buddhists whereas others are hardcore. That said, when writing "The Banh Mi Handbook" -- I offer lots of substitutes as needed for sandwich fillings, condiments and the like. Thanks for asking!
 
Tashipluto February 4, 2014
World of the East Vegetarian Cooking, by Madhur Jaffrey -- if it's still in print!
 
creamtea February 6, 2014
I love World of the East Veg Cooking too!
 
dinner A. February 4, 2014
I'm vegetarian and love cooking and eating Southease Asian food. Two cookbooks I have and like:

The Vegetarian Table: Thailand (this is actually part of a series; the Japanese cookbook is good too)

Vietnamese Fusion: Vegetarian Cuisine (not really sure why "fusion" is in the name, it's fairly traditional Vietnamese food adapted to be purely vegetarian)

I've also had very good luck adapting non-vegetarian recipes to be vegetarian, but I think it was helpful to have a more organized introduction from a vegetarian-focused cookbook. An important secret ingredient for vegetarian Southeast Asian cooking is a substitute for fish sauce, usually called either thin or white soy sauce. It is vastly better in this role than the more common dark soy sauces.
 
Andrea N. February 6, 2014
Vietnamese Fusion: Vegetarian Cuisine by Thai cooking teacher Chat Mingkwan is likely titled after the fact that a lot of Viet vegetarian cooking comes from Chinese traditions. Splitting hairs, perhaps, but Chat is being careful.
 
sexyLAMBCHOPx February 4, 2014
Have you considered, Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia?
 
LeBec F. February 4, 2014
Can't speak to the veg aspect, but this blog i find very good for recipes. You might also look at the 52 section for the Piglet Cookbook competition, as it shows the contestants for a number of years, and some may interest you. Ditto ther website for the James Beard Cookbook Awards.:
http://www.rotinrice.com/2014/01/yam-nian-gao-fritters/
I know people will come up w/ more ideas for you, and i will look more too.

 
Recommended by Food52