I was lucky to receive this book for my birthday 3 years ago and I find it to be one of the most useful books for both recipes and techniques relating to thai food.

The book is penned by the powerhouse team of Helen Brierty and Annette Fear whose Spirit House thai restaurant at Yandina has become a foodie mecca.

This book is a comprehensive guide to Thai cuisine, covering all elements of the thai pantry, thai sauces, thai curry pastes linking the freshest produce to the most delectable plated outcomes.

My favourite concept of this book unlike many other thai tomes is that you can find inspiration for any ingredient one might acquire as the repertoire is not limited to satays and red duck curries. For example if you happened upon cuttlefish at the market- the spirit house book has the answer (Cuttlefish, Snake Bean and Cashew salad with Chili and Coconut dressing). Have some yum steak in the house but don't want boring old mash and vege? Whip up a massaman inspired sauce and voila a modern oz nod to the delicious curry.

I have made several items from this book my favourites are Thai rare beef salad, Carrot and Kaffir Lime Salad (this is to die for). As you'd expect there is a rather large curry section - i must say my favourite from this is the Penang Chicken Curry with Green Peppercorns and Pumpkin.

Thai food is particularly inspiring for its use of fresh and vibrant flavours- I picked up some delicious live mussels from the market yesterday. I turned to the spirit house book for inspiration and found a divine recipe for Steamed Shellfish with Garlic, Coriander, Peppercorns and Basil.
It was simply perfect for the mussels. I've included the recipe below.


Steamed Shellfish with Garlic, Coriander, Peppercorns and Basil.


1/2 teaspoon of white pepper
2 red chillies , chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 tlbs chopped coriander root (i used a bit of stem too)
3 tlbs vege oil
1 tlbs oyster sauce (i omitted this)
1 kg black mussels
1/4 cup of chicken/fish stock
1 teaspoon palm sugar
1/2cup of basil leaves

optional:
I also added
3 strips of lime rind
a handful of snowpeas
chopped coriander leaves

:make a paste out of pepper chillies, garlic, coriander root and lime in a mortar and pestle
:heat oil in wok, add paste-fry til fragrant
:stir in fish sauce and sugar
:add the mussels and toss in the pan so to coat with the paste
: add chicken stock, cover with lide and steam until the mussels have opened.
Discard any that haven't!

Garnish with coriander and a good squeeze of lime juice. I served the mussels over rice and poured the broth over. yum!