Tom Kha Gai Soup

Tom Kha Gai Soup

I think I may have managed to perfect my at-home version of the popular Thai dish Tom Kha Gai Soup.

This soup is one of my absolute favorites. The richness of the coconut milk and the combination of salty, sour and savory with the gorgeous perfume of lemongrass makes this dish a heavenly comfort.

I almost didn't make this because I was missing one very important ingredient - the limes. 

And unfortunately, because I substituted lemon for the lime I didn't write down the recipe((

Go figure that it turned out amazing. But, no fear, I loved it so much I am going to be making another batch tomorrow and I will include the recipe then!

 
 

Tom kha gai soup

Tom kha gai soup

I have been trying to recreate this dish from my favorite Thai restaurant for a while now.

While I finally found the kaffir lime leaf and the galangal, I was still missing the thai red curry paste.

So, while this version is close - it still lacks the red color that the thai red curry paste provides.


But, other than that, the flavor was pretty close. 


The key to the recipe seems to be using a reduced and concentrated chicken broth. Many of the recipes call for quite a bit of chicken broth which I think dilutes the delicate flavors of the rest of the soup.


I have been to 7 different stores and I could not find any thai red curry paste. It looks like I will have to start ordering that online along with my favorite - massaman curry paste.

Tom kha gai soup

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cans of lite coconut milk

1/2 cup of reduced chicken broth

1" piece of galangal, sliced thin

1 stalk of lemon grass cut into 2" strips and cut lengthways

3 button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup of green cabbage, chopped

3 kaffir lime leaves, torn and left whole

1 tsp of sugar

3 leaves of basil, torn and left whole

3 Thai chilies

1 cup of chicken, sliced thin and cut into 2" pieces

1 1/2 Tbsp of Thai fish sauce

3/4 Tbsp of lime juice

1 Tbsp of chopped cilantro for garnish

Instructions:

Put 1 can of coconut milk in a pan over low heat. Add in the galangal and lemon grass and keep the liquid just under a simmer. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes.

In another pan put 1 cup of chicken broth on medium heat and allow to reduce until you are left with 1/2 a cup.

Let the reduced chicken broth cool. When it is no longer hot, add it into the coconut milk (this seems to reduce the risk of the soup separating).

Then add in the kaffir lime leaf and basil. This is where I added the additional 1/4 to 1/2 can of coconut milk because the soup needed a bit more liquid. Bring the soup up to a slow simmer and add in the chicken. Stir occasionally. The chicken should be cooked through in about 5 - 6 minutes (cooking time will depend on the thickness of the chicken - just make sure it is cooked through).

Then add in the mushrooms, cabbage, sugar, lime juice and fish sauce.  The flavor balance between the sugar, fish sauce and lime juice is a matter of personal taste. Feel free to adjust the ratio to your liking.

Cook until the mushrooms have softened and the cabbage is wilted but still a bit crisp. Turn off the heat and add in the Thai chilies. Let the soup steep for a few minutes.

Serve as a soup or ladle over jasmine rice and enjoy it as an entree. Sprinkle chopped cilantro on top.

Enjoy!

The search for galangal continues...

Tom Kha soup with beef rib eye.

I didn't get a chance to hunt down galangal for my recipe challenge today. 

So, what did I do? I used some of the ingredients on hand and made a kinda/sorta/maybe like version of Tom Kha.

I still didn't have any galangal, no Thai chillies and there were no kaffir lime leaves in sight.

I just did my usual and used what I had. And I was curious about how using ginger in place of galangal would change the taste of the soup.

The soup was definitely missing the complexity of flavor of the traditional Tom Kha Gai (with beef substituted) but it was still pretty great.

I found this great packet of thinly sliced rib eye when I was on my day-long shopping trip yesterday.

I put 2-3 slices into individual plastic bags and put them (about 12 in total) right into the freezer. Now I will have a handy protein supply that will take minutes to cook up!

After realizing my dreams of continuing my hunt for galangal were never going to materialize, I decided to adapt a recipe I found here. 

So, straight on to the recipe - it was a pretty fast and satisfyingly spicy - I highly recommend it as a modified home version of Tom Kha-something kind of soup.

Tom Kha soup with beef rib eye

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup of coconut cream (it is the creamy stuff on the top)

1/2 cup of coconut milk (the clearer liquid you see towards the bottom of the can)

1/4" square of ginger

Two 2" segments of lemon grass, pounded slightly

1 button mushroom, sliced

2 broccoli florets, cut in half

The juice of 1/2 of one small lime

2 tsp of fish sauce

1/2 tsp of soy sauce

1 Tbsp of fresh chopped cilantro

Two 1/2" slices of a small red Serrano pepper, seeds removed

3 thin slices of frozen beef rib eye, broken into pieces

Instructions:

Put the chicken broth, the lemon grass and the ginger into a soup pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil and let cook for 5 minutes.

Turn the heat down to a medium simmer and add in the coconut cream and milk along with the chili peppers, soy sauce and fish sauce. Simmer another 2 minutes.

Add in the beef rib eye and broccoli and let cook 2 minutes. Then add in the mushrooms, cilantro and lime juice - take the pot off the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup into a bowl and be careful to fish out the chili peppers if you like your soup on the mild side. 

I also fish out the lemon grass because I hate having to dig around it for the other ingredients. 

Enjoy!

Mac & Cheese and why manicures make me cry

I love getting manicures.

I love the idea of perfect nails.


Does my love for either one of those things bring me joy? No. It only brings about an initial state of euphoria followed by tragic heartache and tears.

Which results in the need for comfort - cue the Mac & Cheese...

To fully understand my sorrow take a look at my nails during my euphoric stage:

Semi-pristine looking nails.

I was blissfully cooking away when I noticed this:

*gasp* Oh, the horror!!

The camera kept focusing on my middle finger - I suspect my camera has a hidden, cheeky sense of humor. 

And, no my hands usually don't look so crone-like - but they did after my desperate attempt to remove the yellow stains. Tumeric (or yellow mustard - I am not sure which) and manicures do not go together.


So now you know why I needed -

Why only two shots of the Mac&Cheese? Because it is really hard to photograph things when dogs are in your face.


Example 1:

Abby with schmutz on her muzzle.

Connor - who has added a nice tone of agita to his 'in your face' technique.

  
Oh, and before I type out the recipe - I bit the bullet and made an About page. Eeek! Check it out at the top of the page:-)




Mac & Cheese

Serves 1-3 depending on your need for comfort.

Ingredients:

2 cups of pasta (any kind) cooked al dente

2 pats of butter

1 tsp. of AP flour


1 cup of chicken broth


1/2 cup of milk


2 cups of nutritional yeast


1 pinch of tumeric


1/2 tsp. of yellow mustard


1 dash of powdered garlic


1 pinch of salt


cracked black pepper to taste

1/2 tsp. of lemon juice (fresh or bottled)


Directions:

Cook 1 cup of dry pasta in 1 quart of salted water until al dente, drain and set aside.

Put a saute pan on medium heat. Add the two pats of butter into the pan. When the butter is melted, add in the flour and stir for a few minutes.

Add in the rest of the ingredients and allow to simmer (you may need to turn the heat down to low at this point) until the sauce is thick and bubbly. 

Pour the cooked pasta into the saute pan and mix well with the sauce. Pull the pan off the heat and let the pasta hang out with the sauce for a couple of minutes. 

Grab a plate and enjoy!

Time to face facts

So on Saturday night you may remember I went out to eat here:

And I ate this:

And it was delicious. I enjoyed every bite. 


But as I sat up that night with raging heartburn, I realized it was time to face facts.


My family (at least the female half) all have with age - developed a sensitivity to high fat foods.


I have been in full blown denial that this oh-so-fun-genetic-legacy had finally started to affect me. Sure, I made small concessions but I never took it that seriously.


My sister's were completely unsurprised when, after they had seen what I had posted as my dinner, I was stuck home the next day nursing a bum stomach.


Two of my sisters (yup, I have more than two) said they enjoyed blissfully calm stomachs following Tracy Anderson's 30 day method diet. I was pleased to find that I actually had a copy of the book in my bookshelf.


While I read up on what might have been the reason for my sister's happy tummies while on that eating plan, I am gingerly sipping on a smoothie.

1/2 a banana, one scoop of Amazing Grass, 1 packet of blueberries and young coconut juice.

It doesn't look very pretty but it tastes OK and so far feels soothing on my tummy.

Connor got a couple of bites of banana because it is his second favorite (after peanut butter, of course).


And, yes, there was a point to this post. From now on I am going to have a go at embracing my gastrointestinal reality with a positive attitude (someday - right now I am still wallowing in bitterness and self-righteous indignation).


So there will be a shift towards a lower fat diet. Hopefully, I will figure out how to go about this without being stuck surviving on a diet of steamed veggies and rice...