My New Thai Cookbook

I was shopping in Borders recently--in bargain cookbook section, it's where some of the best actual cookbooks are! I found a Thai cookbook called The Greatest-Ever Thai Cookbook by Judy Bastyra and Becky Johnston. It was only $7.99! The photography is beautiful and more to the point, it is full of fine recipes. I like the fact that these do not include silly substitutions like ketchup! As I thumbed the pages examining the recipes for signs of "watering down" I noticed that some of the recipes called for vegetable or chicken stock. I wondered if Thais used vegetable stock. One of the recipes involved was Pumpkin-Coconut Soup, which calls for the use of vegetable stock. I did a quick search on the internet to find a recipe without stock, since using soup stock to make soup seems redundant. I found one recipe at http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Silky-Coconut-Pumpkin-Soup-Keg-Bouad-Mak-Fak-Kham-104372 that indicated "mild pork, or chicken stock." This suggests that pork is being substituted with stock. This substitution could be for various reasons, not necessarily bad. Vegetable stock turns this into a vegetarian meal. Also using pork means that the cooking time is extended because pork does need to be cooked. Chicken stock may be the difference in making a dish Kosher or Halal. I prefer fewer processed foods, and canned stock has a lot of sodium. When I make this recipe I will try pork the first time around.