The Elephant Walk Cookbook: The Exciting World of Cambodian Cuisine from the Nationally Acclaimed Restaurant

Boston restaurateur De Monteiro, who fled her native Cambodia in the mid-1970s, aims to both introduce and preserve traditional Cambodian cuisine in this appealingly unusual cookbook. Less sweet than Thai and not as salty as Vietnamese fare, Cambodian dishes make frequent use of lemongrass, fish sauce, shrimp paste, coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves and other local specialties. Classic Noodle Soup achieves part of its unique taste with preserved cabbage and dried shrimp. Dishes are as simple as Grilled Marinated Pork Ribs, made savory with mushroom soy sauce and garlic, and as complexly flavored as Caramelized White Fish with Fried Garlic. De Monteiro also tells how to make Crispy Rice, the deep-fried appetizer popular at her restaurant. Although many ingredients can be found in ethnic groceries--galangal, dried lily buds and the preserved fish paste, prahok--others, such as banana blossoms for Banana Blossom Salad, will be difficult for Americans to locate. Less exotic, a dessert such as Sweet Sliced Corn puts a twist on a familiar U.S. food by slicing steamed corn off the cob, drizzling it with honey and garnishing with coconut, while New Year's Rice Treats with glutinous rice, coconut and bananas steamed inside banana leaves is an annually popular Cambodian sweet. Cooks wishing to explore new territory will be drawn to this attractive introduction. (Nov.)