02/18/2019
In his entertaining latest cookbook (after Pok Pok: The Drinking Food of Thailand), Ricker, chef and proprietor of the Pok Pok restaurants in Portland, Ore., turns his attention to noodles and features fun, if ingredient-heavy, home kitchen interpretations of recipes from his favorite overseas noodle shops. The introduction includes a summary of the various noodles, including ultra-thin and sour khanom jiin, wheat-based ba mi, and thick sen yai. Entrees include a spicy northern Thai curry with puya chiles and pork ribs as well as a vegetarian option with mushroom, krachai and coconut curry. Then it is on to a variety of soups with pork, beef or chicken. Many of these recipes include lessons on how to prep or assemble the various ingredients of each bowl from bottom to top. Stir-fried dishes include a recipe for a cross-cultural mash-up of macaroni with shrimp, vegetables, and ketchup. Instant ramen is not overlooked, showing up in mama phat, a stir-fried dish with pork and cabbage, as well as yam mama, a garlicky noodle salad with shrimp. The concluding 65 pages are turned over to non-noodle accompaniments such as meatballs and fish balls, as well as several iced beverages to counteract the heat. Ricker’s expertise with and affinity for Thai fare make for dishes well worth slurping up. (May)
Ricker’s expertise with and affinity for Thai fare make for dishes well worth slurping up.”
- Publishers Weekly
“Andy Ricker’s final installment in the Pok Pok cookbook trilogy is exceptional. He deploys over thirty years of experience to demystify and showcase Thai noodle craftsmanship and spotlights a broad range of favorites. Andy’s noodly deep dive will help you master the cooking and culture of Thailand.”
ANDREA NGUYEN, author of The Pho Cookbook and Vietnamese Food Any Day
“This book is a delectable immersion course in noodles and the boundless possibilities of street food in Thailand. With a bowl of broth, laden with herbs and chewy noodles, Andy Ricker transports me to an endlessly tasty place and makes me want to put on my apron and start cooking!”
CHEF ALEX GUARNASCHELLI, Butter and The Darby
“When I think of Andy, I see him in a tattoo form, sitting low, eating noodles.
It’s how I always imagine him. So it made perfect sense that he wrote a book about noodles. Now reality just caught up to imagination. I cannot wait to learn from his book and from the people that have become his family in Thailand.”
ROY CHOI, chef and author of L.A. Son
“Andy Ricker’s newest gem is an homage to the foods he loves most dearly,
and is one of the best books ever written on the most mystifying and crave-able piece of the Thai culinary canon, the noodle! This masterpiece is ideal for even the most casual home cook, inspiring anyone to get into the kitchen and make the Thai noodle dishes we all love so much.”
ANDREW ZIMMERN, host of Bizarre Foods
“Andy Ricker is a true authority on Thai cookery. There has never been a book that covers Thai noodles as thoughtfully as Pok Pok Noodles.
This book completes a trilogy that tells the story of Thai food, ingredients,
and people.”
CHEF JET TILA, Food Network
“There was a time when I used to consult my grandma when I wanted to know how things were ‘in the old country.’ These days, I mostly turn to
Andy. In his latest book, we learn everything there is to know about his greatest love, noodles. We benefit from Andy’s decades of experience pounding the pavement, chatting up shop owners, and delving deep into
Thai culinary history so that we don’t have to. Buy Andy’s book, cook from it, thank me later.”
CHEF KRIS YENBAMROONG, Night+Market
“I was first drawn to Andy Ricker because of his strong, manly name. It turns out that he also knows a lot about Thai food. His new book, Pok Pok Noodles,
is so effing gorgeous that I almost feel dirty looking at it. Even the table of contents, which is basically a list of noodle dishes and their descriptions,
is legitimately thrilling. And it’s beautifully written, which doesn’t even seem necessary. Devour this book!”
ANDY RICHTER, actor
“I love noodles in all forms and guises. One of the greatest joys of walking in
Bangkok is to survey the markets and street stalls in all their glory. My eyes usually always fall to the noodles, glistening, inviting and enticing. I find them irresistible. Reading Andy’s book is as good as a stroll in Bangkok. The wide-ranging choice of noodles is arresting. I read his book in one sitting,
imagining myself eating every dish with relish. His book is an essential entrée into my favorite world, the noodles of Thailand.”
DAVID THOMPSON, author of Thai Food and Thai Street Food
Praise for The Drinking Food of Thailand:
"An outstanding, authoritative, and integral work—the result of yeas of drinking and eating and drinking more in a country that Ricker has made his second home. Essential."
—ANTHONY BOURDAIN
"A book you will love to cook from and a superb deep dive into an overlooked part of Thai culture."
—ANDREW ZIMMERN
"A punk rock version of what Ricker serves at his popular Whiskey Soda Lounge. This is meant to be bar food, but there's more to it than spicy fried peanuts: stir fries, curries, fried chicken, and the bold flavors Pok Pok is known for jump off each page. Even novice cooks will be drawn into this colorful, flavorful world."
—Eater
"A booze-fueled adventure. . . Warning: The Thai-style fried chicken and kaffir lime-tinged fried peanuts will ruin you from the any bar's bowl of mixed nuts for life."
—Tasting Table
"Ricker's prose, written with Goode, is chatty and engaging, and the photos, by Austin Bush, will pretty quickly get you looking up flights to Chiang Mai."
—Los Angeles Times
"An eye-opening assortment of recipes that are the perfect excuse to have a bunch of friends over for drinks, from crispy red-skinned peanuts stir-fried with lime leaf, garlic, and chiles to kai thawt (dry-fried Thai-spiced chicken wings)."
—Epicurious
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