I enjoy learning about cultures beyond my own, and cooking food from other countries to enjoy and share. I've just finished savoring my very first comic cookbook, and what a delight it is! The cookbook is just about as friendly and helpful as it could be, and packs a lot of history, culture, and personal memories into each warm and fuzzy page. I would love to see this cookbook start a trend.

A local farmer's market carries whole coconuts, but I've always felt intimidated by using them in cooking. I appreciated learning more about coconut milk and meat, and how it's collected. And how charming is it that the first, richest 'squeeze' is called the "Head" of coconut milk and the last watery gleanings are called the "Tail"?

Many of the ingredients used in the 50 recipes contained in this comic cookbook aren't easily found around my neighborhood, but I was cheered to see that the authors not only mention, but encourage the use of canned and bottled sauces, marinades, soup bases and the like. This should guarantee that more people will actually try cooking the dishes.

The section titled "A quick note about..." is misnamed, as it's really several pages long and gives us a solid overview of commonly used spicing, flavor balances, ingredients, and even serving utensils.

About 40ish pages in, having been well-grounded in Thai food culture, we finally come upon the recipes, beginning with "Snacks and Starters". All the recipes are accompanied by step-by-step illustrated instructions, even more information about Thai culture, childhood memories, and little tips and tricks from the authors cooking experiences.

The recipes are varied, and there's going to be something in the collection to appeal to every palate. There's extensive coverage of the different types of curries that are so popular in Thai cuisine. I could tell that the goal of that section was to demystify cooking with curry. If curries are intimidating to you, this will arm you with enough information and assurance to prod you towards cooking curry dishes yourself.

'Desserts and Drinks' is a sweet treat in itself, filled with more history lessons and personal memories from the authors. There's a good handful of complex, average, and simple recipes. I am going to try making Khai Waan (Sweet Egg) this afternoon, since I have all the ingredients (there's only four, and one is water!) and the instructions are very simple.

'Staples and Accompaniments' is very helpful for cooks wanting to stock their kitchens with ingredients for Thai food. You'll also learn about good side dishes to support the main dish you've chosen to cook.

If a cookbook could become a gesture, "Noodles, Rice, and Everything Nice" would be a warm hug. Pick up a copy and gather your family to create your own new taste treats and lasting memories.

My thanks to authors Christina de Witte and Mallika Kauppinen, Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

This was very nice to read, even though it is part cookbook. The stories that accompanied the recipes were very fun to read and I really love the concept of this sort of cookbook. I also really liked that the creators of the book made this out of their own experiences.

Even if you won't be making the recipes, this is very nice to read!

I absolutely love every single thing about this comic/cookbook. Before even getting into it, I was so ecstatic that this even exists. As a Thai girl wanting to cook more Thai recipes, this was an easy grab and it blew out of water. I loved going through the artwork, the illustrations, and the story. But the recipes truly are what stood out. I'm so ready to try every single item in the book. The nostalgia and the excitement surrounding each dish will definitely make me a much better cook! I can't rave enough, all the stars for this!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this amazing cookbook. All opinions are my own.

This was a one-of-a-kind cookbook. The authors put so much heart into telling their stories and teaching about their culture in their cooking. This book brings together cute art, beautiful stories of people finding identity through cooking, and delicious Thai recipes. A wonderful read!

A fun way to making cookbooks approachable is turning them into graphic novels. It was such a pleasure to read Noodles, Rice and Everything Spice by Christina de Witte and Mallika Kauppinen. I’m a fan of Thai food and this book took me on a tour through the country’s various regions sharing recipes and stories along the way. The stories and facts included helped to make a more immersive experience before dipping into each sections recipes. Not only were there stories and recipes but tips, tricks, info on cooking supplies and how-to’s were sprinkled along the way. From starters to main dishes this was such an enjoyable and handy book. I also loved the bright and fun art style as well as layout. It was easy to read, and a book I will be returning to for recipes. I would love to see more cookbooks like this!

Thanks to Clarkson Potter, Ten Speed Press and NetGalley for this Arc in exchange for my honest review.

Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice is written is a comic book style focusing on Thai cuisine and history through different regions of Thailand. The cookbook explores northern, northeastern, eastern, central, western, and southern Thailand cuisines.

The sections are snacks and starters, noodles, with rice, soups and curries, desserts and drinks, & staples and accompaniments.
Each recipe has a brief on the dish, servings, ingredients, and then step by step directions with illustrations. The directions are very fun and straightforward.

I really enjoyed the little comics and the built in storyline. The illustrations are so cute. The cookbooks fun nature is perfect for someone wanting to get into cooking more Thai food. The drawings of grocery store staples is perfect to know what to look for and buy. I HIGHLY recommend this cookbook!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A delicious book, filled with wonderful thai recipes and a rich introduction to thai culture through food. I very much enjoyed the recipes I made from the book, and would definitely make more in the future! In addition, the art and the unique way of learning about thai cuisine through small comics and stories, made it a very fun and cute read.

If you love comic books, you'll love this cookbook. It has a nice introduction section in the front that explains the premise of how the book came about and the basics (ingredients, etc). The recipes are well illustrated and seem to completely outline the steps necessary to make a variety of dishes. While I found the cookbook to be cute and I enjoyed perusing it, I like very clean recipes when I cook. If you are like me, and like everything laid out nicely, this probably won't work as well for you.

An absolutely delightful book that's so much more than a graphic cookbook-- it also provides a lot of cultural context and education to the reader. Highly recommend.

As a fellow Thai native and restauranteur, the information in the cookbook was not new to me but the presentation was. Comic book or graphic novel style cookbooks do the due diligence of making an intimidating cuisine feel obtainable. That’s what I loved about this book. The authors very accurately explain Thai cuisine, and all the cultural mannerisms associated with our food. It included a beautifully written origin story introduction made even more impactful with the illustrations! To the non-Thai reader, there is a story arc that is educational. Through this I can see Mallika’s background in teaching really shine through.

Recipes ranged from what we would consider more “common” Thai food/dishes (Pad Thai) to educating the reader on the very traditional ingredients native Thai people regularly eat that might not be as well known (Khanom Jeen). It encompasses a very intentional history of Thai food that reflects the many surrounding influences in our regional dishes. Many don't realize that several dishes they associate with Thai food are actually borrowed from surrounding countries. Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice colorfully illustrates this history, all while teaching the reader how to prepare the dishes they know (and a lot they may not know!) and love.

Thank you to the publisher for providing this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thai food has never looked more delicious. Yet it's not as simple as asking for curries and noodles; six different regions in Thailand vary in their spice choices and specific dishes. This cookbook talks about first how not to order like a tourist if you visit the country, the ingredients to get if you want a go at it. The authors discuss how to get these ingredients at different stores if you don't have a primary source.

I am not a high spice person so I would not be putting in about twenty hot peppers or chili sauces into any dish that I cook. The recipes, however, are accessible, and come with comic illustrations for reference! That helps a lot for someone who would be a newbie at such cooking, like me. If I were to take up Thai food, I would be using this book a lot.

I really enjoyed reading this book! I found it fresh and original. All the ingredients aren't available to me, but with some substitution I can cook many of these recipes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 5
Enjoyability: 5
Ease of Reading: 5

Overall rating: 5 out of 5

Noodles, Rice and Everything Spice; A Thai Comic Cookbook by Christina de Witte and Mallika Kauppinen is a brilliant and fun comic cookbook with mouthwatering Thai Recipes.

The two authors/illustrators did a marvelous job in this outstanding original book to step off the path of the normal, somewhat boring cookbooks to write this comic book, that combines the author's personal history, written recipes and thai culinary histories and how-to's with delicuous food photographs of the recipes ( I love the Thai satay!!) the book captures all the well known Thai flavours and ingredients that are mandatory in every Thai recipe. The book also takes you on a journey to every region of Thailand and it's specific regional dishes; from Bangkok street food and fresh food markets, Southern Thailand's spicy seafood, Grilled meats from the northeast Isaan region, and the northern Lanna region of Thailand “khan tok”–style dishes with small bowls of chile dips, curries and sticky rice. WIth six different sections in which the book is divided, learn how to make a meal for every part of the day; Som Tam papaya salad, Satay Gai, drunken noodles (Pad Kee Mao) and Nam Prik Ong and many, many more delicious Thai starters, main dishes and desserts, with perfect how-to's and preparation techniques and more combined with the most fun comic illustrations.

This is a book not to miss for everyone who loves Thai food and who wants to learn the famous yummy dishes that Thailand is known for at home. The recipes are anything but difficult, but the result is great! As a Thai food and cooking fan I truly recommend this book!! It is ,as they say in Thai: aroy mak mak!

Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice is a new take on cookbooks. Beautiful illustrations and steps are included in this comic-style book on different cuisines from Thailand's various regions. As the authors shared their personal stories and information about Thailand with humor, I enjoyed the book, and look forward to making some of the recipes.

I enjoyed the resources and layout of this cookbook quite a bit. There were a few items that were hard to find where I live, but that didn’t stop me from being able to make a handful of recipes to test out. The step by step instructions were easy to follow and the format was super cute.

First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for allowing me to read this book for an honest review.

I really loved the whole concept of a graphic novel combined with a cookbook. At first, I was scared that since it was in this format, it wouldn't be able to give as much of information about the foreign foods and the culture behind it, but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved pretty much everything in this book, and I will definitely try cooking some of these recipes for my family.

The only reason I took away one star were the nipples of the animated characters. It was so distracting to me and unnecessary. I don't have anything against nipples lol, but the way they have been drawn was just a big no from me.

3.5 stars

This is part cookbook, part graphic novel, and part history lesson on all things Thai cuisine. Super cool that there's illustrations for everything - including for each cooking step!

I enjoyed reading about the regional differences for the food, staple ingredients, a little background on the authors, and now am hungry.

This is a delightful way for readers to become familiar with Thai cuisine and culture. The graphic novel approach makes the preparation of Thai foods somehow less intimidating. I would certainly recommend this book as a strong addition to any graphic novel collection.

I am VERY MUCH a fan of Thai cooking and while saying that I can say I have no clue how to cook it myself. Nor the slight idea where to start. This cookbook is a very innovative way to teach beginners and I absolutely loved it. It was fun, clever, and knowledgeable! Plus easy enough for someone like me!