Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey (Hardcover)

Product Description

“Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey” is an ambitious journey, avoiding the beaten track and tourist hot-spots, in search of the authentic food of Southeast Asia. In this accompanying book to the major BBC series, Rick shares his favourite recipes and some well-known classic dishes inspired by the fragrant ingredients and recipes he sampled from local chefs, family-run restaurants, street vendors and market stalls. In Cambodia, Rick learns how to make a national dish Samlor kako, a stir-fried pork and vegetable soup flavoured with an array of spices; in Vietnam he is shown the best recipe for Pho Bo, a Vietnamese beef noodle soup; and, in Thailand, Rick tries Geng Leuong Sai Gung Lai Sai Bua, a yellow curry made with prawns and lotus shoots that you won’t find outside the country. “Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey” includes over 150 new recipes from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Bali each complemented by Rick’s colourful anecdotes from the trip and beautiful on-location photography. This is a visually-stunning culinary tribute to Southeast Asian cooking that evokes the magic of bustling markets, the sizzle of oil and the aromatic steam from a Far Eastern kitchen.

About the Author

Rick Stein is a well-loved and respected chef, TV presenter and author who has produced an array of award-winning books and television series, including Rick Stein’s Seafood, Seafood Lover’s Guide, Taste of the Sea, Food Heroes, French Odyssey, Mediterranean Escapes and most recently Coast to Coast. All of his books and programmes show a commitment to good-quality produce, sustainable fishing and good husbandry. Rick owns four restaurants, a delicatessen, a patisserie, a seafood cookery school and forty guest bedrooms in the small fishing port of Padstow, Cornwall. In 2003, Rick was awarded an OBE for services to West Country Tourism. He divides his time between Padstow and Australia, which he regards as his second home.

Rick Stein talks about his Far Eastern Odyssey

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A taste of the east

Contrasting textures, fresh flavours and hot and sour sacues … In this extract from Rick Stein’s latest book, Far Eastern Odyssey, the intrepid chef recreates some of the tantalising dishes he encountered in Vietnam

Rick Stein | The Observer | Sunday 19 July 2009

What an introduction to Vietnam: to board a riverboat in Phnom Penh and meander down the Mekong. As we crossed the border from Cambodia the personality of the Vietnamese was immediately apparent. Everywhere on the banks was industriousness: boats being mended, cooking on junks, intense cultivation of vegetables and fruit. Fish farms on either bank: floating pontoons with a couple of wooden huts, each with a barking guard dog or two.

On board we enjoyed some of the classic dishes of the country: at one stage Vietnamese spring rolls, the fresh ones with limpid rice-paper pancakes wrapped round prawns and pork with mint, Thai sweet basil, bean sprouts, garlic chives and shredded lettuce; on another occasion a pile of crunchy yellow fritters made with shredded potatoes and prawns perfumed with turmeric. This use of leafy herbs and crunchy items is very common.

Here, a bowl of chicken broth and rice noodles is eaten with crunchy vegetables and salad leaves together with chargrilled minced pork flavoured with garlic and fish sauce.

Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey – BBC2/BBC HD 8pm

Jane Simon | Mirror.co.uk | 23/07/2009

Tonight, in Vietnam, seeing the fish farms under the floating houses along the Mekong River, his first guilty thought is of the Russian roulette scene from The Deer Hunter. And although he’s got a translator, there are some communication problems even when he’s speaking English.

In the market, shopping for ingredients for the local soup called Pho, he actually says at one point: “We need four for four phos.” (I think). And he also picks up a new recipe of which he says: “If you cook just one dish from this series – make it this one.”

Stock up on fish sauce now.

Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey – Cambodia

Cambodia, Part 1

Cambodia, Part 1

In summer 2005 I travelled to South-East Asia on holiday, visiting Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Much as I enjoyed my experiences in the former two countries, it was Cambodia that really touched me most. I really liked the Khmer people and I was knocked out by their cuisine, which I’d never experienced before. Khmer food is the topic of the first episode of Rick Stein’s latest series, Far Eastern Odyssey. In this edited clip I show just a little of what appeared in that broadcast, to give you a flavour of this remarkable country. I’ve focused on the food and edited out a lot of material discussing the period of the Khmer Rouge not because I don’t think the country’s political history is important, but because I’m restricted to a 10-minute clip and this was uploaded for my food blog. Enjoy the food!

Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey – BBC2/BBC HD, 8pm

Jane Simon | Mirror.co.uk | 16/07/2009

Become a chef – see the world. That could be Rick Stein’s motto as he nibbles his way around Cambodia tonight and then slips down the Mekong River to Vietnam on his latest exotic jolly.

Food-mad to a fault, the introduction to this new series sounds suspiciously like a Mitchell and Webb sketch. “I’m here to discover not just the food,” Stein promises, “but what makes places like Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam tick. What’s so special about Bali, Sri Lanka, Malaysia or Bangladesh? Well – the food of course. But beyond that it’s the people. People talking about food…”

With this suitably one-track mind, Stein enthuses tonight about mini mangoes, curry paste, fresh crabs and peppercorns and discovers that Cambodia’s French colonial past lives on in the shape of the baguette.

Every week he’ll also be finding recipes you can create in your own kitchen – but be warned, tonight’s taste sensation is a raw beef salad.