Blend the green chili and garlic together in a food processor. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet until hot, then add the chili-garlic mixture. Fry for 1 minute, then add the chicken and stir-fry for one minute, then add the red chili, oyster sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce. Stir-fry for 2-3 more minutes, then mix the basil in and serve immediately, with rice or noodles.

Oyster sauce is a little unusual, but you can find it at most supermarkets, along with the fresh chilies.

Roast the eggplants in a 350° oven for 20 minutes until soft. Cool, then remove the skin and slice into 1" pieces. Saute the pork in a skillet with a little oil over high heat until browned, about 10 minutes. Mix the eggplant, pork, shrimp and remaining ingredients together well. Serve with rice, and garnish with fresh cucumber and carrot slices.

Use the long, skinny eggplants. Dried shrimps are an exotic ingredient, but you don't need a lot, and you can keep them in your pantry.

Using a sharp knife, cut three deep slashes into the skin side of each chicken breast. Place the breasts in a single layer in a wide dish. In a food processor, blend the garlic, chili, ginger, cilantro, lime rind and juice, soy sauce, sugar and coconut milk until a smooth puree forms. Spread the puree over both side of the breasts, coating them evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Lift chicken off of marinade, shake off excess, and place on a baking sheet. Broil for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile, take remaining marinade and bring to a boil in a saucepan, then simmer to heat thoroughly. Serve with the chicken breasts.

Nothing too unusual here. Everything's available at our local supermarket.

Mix together the ginger, coriander, chili, lime juice and sesame oil. Place the salmon in a wide dish and spoon the mixture over the flesh side of the fillets, spreading to coat evenly. Cover and chill for 30 minutes. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Place the salmon on the hot pan, skin side down. Cook salmon for 5 minutes, without turning, until the salmon is crusty underneath and the flesh flakes easily. Serve at once.

The cookbook notes that if the fish fillets are thick, you can carefully turn them over once during cooking.

Pat the scallops dry and slice in half horizontally. Heat butter and oil in a wok or skillet, then add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the scallions and stir-fry for 1 more minute. Add the scallops and continue stir-frying for 4-5 minutes. Stir in the lime rind, chili and juice and cook for 1 more minute. Serve with rice.

If you use frozen scallops, thaw and dry them thoroughly. Use kaffir lime rind and juice if available.

Cut all the vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet and stir-fry the garlic and scallions for about a minute. Stir in the chili paste, then add the carrots and cauliflower and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the bok choi and beans and stir-fry an additional 2 minutes. Stir in soy sauce and rice wine. Mix the peanut butter with the coconut milk and stir into the pan, then cook for 1 more minute.

Peanut sauce is one of the glories of Thai cooking. Try this with chicken in place of vegetables.

Place the flour, egg, curry paste and coconut milk in a food processor with half of the corn kernels. Process until a smooth, thick batter forms. Finely chop the scallions and stir into the batter with the remaining corn, cilantro and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a heavy frying pan. Drop generous spoonfuls of the batter into the pan and cook for 3 minutes until golden brown. Turn them over and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes on the other side. Fry in batches, making about 12-16 fritters. Serve hot, preferably with lime wedges and a chili relish.

You'll have to make a trip to the Asian market for the Thai green curry paste ... but that's much easier than trying to make it yourself.

Trim the cucumber and coarsely grate it. Place in a colander over a bowl, sprinkle with salt and leave to drain for 20 minutes. Discard the liquid. Peel the onion, chop finely, and mix with the cucumber. Mix together the garlic, chili paste, fish sauce, lime juice and sesame oil. Spoon over the salad, then cover and chill before serving.

One of the things I enjoy about Thai food is the accompaniments, such as cucumber salads like this one.

Blanche the eggplant cubes and onion wedges in boiling water for 2 minutes to soften, then drain thoroughly. Heat the oil in a saucepan or wok, and add the curry paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the beef strips and stir-fry over high heat, for about 1-2 minutes, to brown on all sides. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring. Add eggplant and onion, chilies, ginger and lime leaves. Cook for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped basil and serve over rice.

The cookbook recommends making your own curry paste, but that's not easy ... so just buy it.

Kaffir lime leaves can be difficult to find ... but for a long time we had a kaffir lime tree in our atrium in San Francisco. Go us! On the other hand, you could substitute cilantro, mint or basil leaves.

Cook noodles according to package instructions. To make the dressing, mix the oils with the garlic and peanut butter until smooth. Add the chili, sesame seeds, soy sauce and lime juice, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Drain noodles, then add the dressing and cilantro and toss well to mix.

Some people don't like cilantro, and they make a big noise about it. You don't see me making a fuss about my hatred of liver ... so just substitute flat-leaf parsley for the cilantro, sheesh.

Marinate steak with the fish sauce for five minutes. Grill the steak to the desired degree of doneness. Slice the steak and set aside. Line a large platter with green leaf lettuce, then arrange all other ingredients on top of lettuce. Mix dressing and pour over salad. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Substitute any small hot pepper for the Thai chili peppers.

This recipe is ridiculously easy, but very tasty. I would amp up the heat level with additional red chili flakes.

Combine chicken with lime juice, fish sauce, chili pepper, minced onion and galangal powder in a skillet, and cook chicken until done. Add toasted rice powder, green onions, mint leaves and cilantro. Garnish with red cabbage, green leaf lettuce, sliced carrots, red and green bell pepper strips, fresh pea pods or other fresh vegetables.

Okay ... galangal powder. You're either going to have to track it down or omit it, or better yet, substitute a like amount of ground ginger.

The "ground toasted rice" is easy to make -- dry-fry some rice in a skillet for a few minutes, then grind it up in a food processor until fine.

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet and add the chicken and garlic. Sauté for two minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and stir-fry for three more minutes.

This Quick & Easy Thai Cuisine Lemon Grass Cookbook is one of the easiest Thai cookbooks ever. Most every recipe is just "combine all ingredients and cook until done." It's also one recipe per page, with a full-color photo of the finished dish, and smaller photos of the preparation and ingredients.

Soak wooden skewers in cold water for at least 30 minutes. Thread the mushroom halves onto each skewer. Lay the filled skewers side by side in a shallow dish. Blend the garlic and cilantro roots (or cilantro leaves, if root is unavailable). Mix in a bowl with the sugar, soy sauce and a little pepper. Brush the soy sauce mixture over the mushrooms and leave to marinate for 15 minutes. Broil the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes on each side. For the dipping sauce, heat the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small pan, stirring occasionally until sugar and salt have dissolved. Add garlic and chile and keep warm.

Cilantro root! My nemesis. Not always available, so use the leaves if necessary.

Put the jasmine rice in a strainer and rinse thoroughly. Drain the rice. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Cook the garlic, onions and turmeric over a low heat for 3 minutes, until the onions have softened. Add rice and stir to coat in the oil. Pour in the water and coconut milk, and lemongrass if available. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan and cook on low for 12-15 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Remove the pan from the heat and remove the lid. Cover with a clean dish towel, replace the lid, and allow to stand in a warm place for 15 minutes. Remove the lemongrass, and serve.

If you don't have lemongrass, try a little grated lemon rind.

Cut eggplants on diagonal into 1/2" slices. Preheat oven to 400°. Toss eggplant with 2 TB. each of fish sauce and olive oil and then hot sauce, if used. Lay slices on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes. Slice each piece in half lengthwise; set aside. Heat 2 TB. olive oil in skillet. When hot, add shallots. Turn down heat to medium and cook 2 minutes. Add pork and saute until cooked, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, 1/2 cup fish sauce and the lime juice and cook about 3 minutes more, breaking up any big pieces of pork. Season with salt and pepper. Add eggplant and fresh herbs to mixture. Right before serving, toss with coarsely chopped roasted peanuts.

Serve alongside rice noodles or rice, or in lettuce cups. Picked this one up for the cookbook from a San Francisco Chronicle story years ago.

In a wok or large frying pan, fry the ground pork with the ginger over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice and fish sauce and continue cooking for another 5 minutes, until pork is no longer pink. Add the sliced onion, cilantro and crushed red pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for another 3 minutes, stirring to mix well. Add peanuts, stir briefly, and serve.

Serve as an appetizer or over rice. Recipe comes from Steve's friend Chris, who back in the '80s-'90s, was second to none in his devotion to Thai food.

Soak noodles in cold water for 2 hours. Heat vegetable oil and garlic in wok over medium-high heat. Stir-fry garlic until it turns brownish-gold. Add shrimp, tofu and pickled radish/turnip. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes. Add pre-mixed fish sauce, paprika, sugar, lime juice, red pepper flakes and cilantro. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add noodles and stir. When noodles are completely covered, push them to one side and scramble the egg. Continue to stir-fry until liquid has evaporated or been absorbed, about 5 minutes. Add peanuts and green onions. Stir-fry just enough to mix thoroughly. Mix with bean sprouts in serving dish immediately before serving (if you mix them in too early, they absorb moisture and become limp). At the table, add additional lemon juice and/or lime juice to taste.

Steve's friend Chris boiled down many pad thai recipes to arrive at this one, although now he feels his time is more valuable and would just as soon get it in a restaurant.