Put the garlic, chilies and long beans into a mortar and pound roughly with a pestle. Add the papaya and pound again to bruise the ingredients. Add the dried shrimps, fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar and stir together using the pestle and a spoon until the palm sugar has dissolved. Mix the tomatoes and anchovy sauce (if using) and pound to combine with the papaya. Add peanuts and mix together. Sprinkle with additional peanuts.

Serve on a bed of lettuce with a garnish of grated carrots, sliced tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, with sticky rice. You also can serve whole boiled prawns on top. In Thailand, this dish is often eaten with barbecued chicken.

Makes 2 servings.

This bright-flavored beef salad also is adapted with Srisathorn's help from "A Passion for Thai Cooking." To make the last ingredient, dry-fry some uncooked sticky rice for 7 to 8 minutes in a wok over low heat and roast until it is brown. Pound well in mortar with a pestle. Galangal is a spicy rhizome sometimes called Thai ginger; you can substitute fresh ginger.

LAAB PHAD (MINCED BEEF SALAD)

Put the meat, shallots, galangal (if using), fish sauce, lime juice, and chili powder into a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Heat a wok with a small amount of oil to medium heat and add meat mixture, stirring occasionally for about five minutes or until cooked. (May add a small amount of water and cook for a few more minutes, until the meat is cooked, if necessary).

Transfer the cooked mixture to a bowl and add the coriander (cilantro), spring onion, chopped mint, sugar, and ground sticky rice and mix well.

Garnish with a sprig of mint and serve with raw cabbage leaves, raw green beans, and spring onion.

Makes 4 servings.

This is one of Srisathorn's own recipes. Anytime you see the word "tom" in Thai, it's soup.

TOM CHEUD (VEGETABLE SOUP)

Soak bean threads in hot water until soft. In a sauté pan, heat garlic in oil until light brown, and set aside.

Put the chicken broth in a saucepan. Add the tofu and simmer about 5 minutes. Add the drained bean threads and the cabbage and bring back to a boil and simmer for about 3 minutes. Stir in the fish sauce or vegetarian stir-fry sauce, green onions, cilantro, cooked garlic, and black pepper. Place in a large bowl and garnish with coriander (cilantro).

Makes 4 servings.

Adapted with the help of Srisathorn from "A Passion for Thai Cooking":

PAD KRA PRAO GAI (CHICKEN WITH CHILI AND BASIL)

For the sauce:

Heat a pan or wok until hot, add the oil, then the garlic and the small chilis and stir-fry until the garlic starts to brown.

Add the chicken, beef or pork and stir-fry until the outside is cooked, approximately 2 minutes.

Add the combined sauce ingredients and stir-fry.

Add the red bell peppers and stir again.

Add the chicken stock, and when it is boiling, add the basil leaves.

Cook for another minute.

Turn off the heat and serve with steamed jasmine rice. In Thailand, this dish is often eaten with a fried egg on top.

Makes 4 servings.

This is adapted from a recipe by Srisathorn:

PANAENG MUU (PANANG CURRY)

Heat the 3 tablespoons of coconut cream with the garlic and the Panang curry paste in a saucepan or wok. Simmer and stir at medium-high heat until the coconut cream and the curry paste turn a little translucent and the curry paste becomes aromatic.

Stir in the chicken (or meat of your choice) and the rest of the coconut milk and simmer until the meat is cooked (about 10-12 minutes).

Add the red bell pepper and kaffir lime leaves.

Stir in the fish sauce, palm sugar and basil leaves.

Remove from heat and garnish with kaffir lime leaves and red chili.

Serve with steamed jasmine rice. This dish goes well with fresh spring rolls.

Makes 4 servings.