Tom Kha Kai
Don’t you just love Thai food? I love the exotic flavors of lemongrass, kaffir lime and chilies. One of my favorite Thai dishes that is super easy to make and tastes great is Tom Kha Kai. You can find this soup at Thai restaurants every where. Make this soup and your friends will love you and keep coming back for more. If you are having any difficulty sourcing Thai ingredients I highly recommend importfood.com. They have everything that you need with product reviews. It’s an awesome resource.
Tom Kha Kai (adapted from True Thai by Victor Sodsook)
Serves 4- 6
3 cups of Chicken stock
2 oz. of ginger, peeled and crushed with a meat tenderizer
2 large stalks of lemon grass, outer layer peeled away, tops trimmed and then cut into 3 or 4 pieces
12 fresh kaffir lime leaves or the peel from 1 small lime
2 cans of coconut milk (14 oz. each) (Chaokoh is my favorite brand of coconut milk.)
1 # of boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes
2 Tablespoons of chili tamarind paste *This product is difficult to find. I often use 2 Tbsp. Tamarind paste and 1 tsp. of Siracha If you can’t find tamarind at all, add an extra tablespoon of lemon juice.
¼ c. of fresh lemon juice
2 ½ Tbsp. palm sugar or golden brown sugar
2 ½ Tbsp. fish sauce (I recommend Squid Brand and Golden Boy)
½ # of button mushrooms, sliced
5 small Thai chilies, stemmed and lightly crushed (optional)
In a soup pot combine the chicken stock, ginger, lemon grass and kaffir lime or lime peel. Simmer the stock and aromatics for a couple of minutes, then add the coconut milk. Return the soup to a simmer and add the chicken breast. Add the mushrooms and remaining ingredients. Simmer for about 7- 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Taste and season to your liking with fish sauce, sugar and chilies. For a vegetarian version I substitute the chicken for medium firm tofu. A client of mine loves adding steamed swiss chard and julienned bamboo shoots for a filling Thai Vegetable Stew.
Remove the ginger, lemongrass and kaffir lime before serving. They are not meant to be eaten.
Chocolate Craving Alert!!
Perfect for summer and tomato season, this versatile recipe was published in Saveur magazine a couple of months ago. It’s really good, redolent with mint and spices. I’ve served it with falafel as recommended, over bulgur for a different kind of tabbouleh, with pita chips as a kind of Mediterranean salsa and over grilled halibut.
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