Keo Sananikone's 'Thai Cuisine.'
Recipes run from appetizers to desserts, with chapters solely devoted to curries (six types) and sauces (eight). Plan a menu with Keo: Summer Rolls adapted from the Vietnamese style, Spicy Shrimp Soup with Lemongrass, followed by Lobster with Pineapple, Asparagus with Black Mushrooms, Red Pork Curry and Thai Broccoli Noodles, ending with Golden Threads Dessert.
The book also includes illustrated step-by-step instructions for techniques such as deboning chicken wings and cleaning squid and for making traditional garnishes.
Thai food, Sananikone says in his introduction, is a "pleasant contrast" between fiery Indian food and gently flavored Chinese. But, he adds, "It has a temper." Balance between spices and main ingredients, practice and tasting are the keys.
Sananikone's signature restaurants, called simply Keo's, are in Ward Centre and in Waikiki on Kuhio Avenue. Keo's was named the best Thai restaurant in the country by Bon Appetit magazine in 1995; the best outside Thailand by the San Francisco Chronicle.
