Hi -

I found a nice little book called "Healthy and Easy Thai Cooking:
Healthy Thai Dishes You Can Make at Home (Healthy & Easy)" (isbn
9781901268430) at Borders for the bargain price of $3.99. Since it
originated in Thailand, I thought it might have some unusual and
interesting recipes, and at that price it was not much of a gamble.

Well, I got past the 'whiskered sheat fish' reference, thanks to google
(its a catfish), but the 'all-purpose sauce' is unexplained, except for
an indecipherable photograph. My local Thai grocery thinks they might
mean soy sauce, or perhaps Golden Mountain or Maggi Sauce, but I though
I'd throw the question open to the resident experts here. Anyone got a
definitive answer?

A second question relates to ketchup - do Thais use ketchup in any
recipe at all? This book gives a sweet & sour recipe using it. My
suspicion is that it has crept into the culture, while being deplored.

I could ask the same question about Chinese people too. A recent recipe
I used for "shrimp in garlic sauce" used ketchup as its base. The book
was giving American Chinese recipes in the main, to defend it (it was
"Potsticker Chronicles", fyi). I made the dish his way the first time,
but in future I'd use either tomato paste or tamarind concentrate, and
compensate the sugar. But do Chinese people use ketchup when they cook?"

Thanks for any knowledge any of you may have,

Ian