A creamy, spicy soup, with a fresh touch and an acid point that makes this Vietnamese soup an excellent recipe also for the hot months, as long as we eat it cold (yes, it can be done and it is just as good, like ramen and many others). The recipe belongs to my friend Anthony Moonpartner of the taquerias high heel -a great chef who, in addition to Mexican gastronomy, dominates many others- and manages to maximize the flavor of this dish without using ingredients that are difficult to find.
The name of the recipe Tom Kha Kai either Tom Khagal, is derived from the use of a root called galangal – a first cousin of ginger, with a slightly different flavor – which together with keffir lime leaves can be difficult to find if you do not live in a big city. “In this recipe these two ingredients are substituted to facilitate its preparation,” says Luna, who prepares the dish with chicken but assures that it can easily be converted into a vegan dish, changing this meat for mushrooms or tofu, and its broth for a vegetable one. .
I recommend preparing twice the base broth and freezing it to have it ready when we feel like this soup again -I’m sure it won’t take long, its combination of flavors is addictive- or prepare a rice with mussels and prawns with it. Will it be canon? No way. Will it be good? Do not have the slightest doubt; if you are going to use the whole shellfish, peel it, toast the heads and shells in a saucepan, add the broth and one more glass of water and boil everything together for ten minutes; after this time, pass through a fine sieve and ready for the rice.
Difficulty
Find an Asian store with the -few- products we need.
Ingredients
for 4 people
for the broth
- 1 can of 400 g of coconut milk
- 1 ginger root about 5 cm
- ½ red chili (hot)
- 3 lemongrass sticks
- 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon of fish sauce (substitute soy in the vegan option)
- 700 ml of chicken or vegetable broth
Also
- 2 chicken breasts (not necessary if we prepare the vegan option)
- 200g portobello mushrooms
- 120 g of girgolas (400 if we make the vegan version, or 300 g of tofu)
- A handful of coriander leaves
dressings
- ½ red onion
- The juice of one lime
- freshly ground black pepper
- Salt
- Spicy oil (optional)
- ½ red chili (hot)
Preparation
- Finely chop half a red onion and put it in a bowl with the lime juice, salt and pepper. Allow to pickle at least during the preparation of the dish.
- Pour the entire can of coconut milk into a pot, and then the same volume of water (in the same can, to drain the content) over a medium heat so that it begins to heat up.
- We will cut 10 thin slices of the piece of ginger, divide ½ chili into four pieces lengthwise -if a seed is left it will sting more-, remove the peel from ½ lime -without the bitter white part- and hit three lemongrass roots so that they release the flavor when making the infusion. Put everything in the mixture of water and coconut milk and bring to a boil over low heat.
- When it boils, add the broth and return to the boil.
- Lower the heat to a minimum temperature and add the teaspoon of fish sauce (soy sauce if we make the vegan version). Leave on a minimum heat for about 10 minutes, in the smallest fire we have, it does not need to boil.
- Laminate the mushrooms and cut the girgolas lengthwise.
- Cut the breasts widthwise into one-centimeter strips and salt.
- Strain the infusion for our and return to the fire. Add the mushrooms to the bottom and cook over medium heat for four minutes.
- Add the chicken -or the tofu if we make it vegan and with tofu- raising the heat to high and cook for five more minutes. If it is done only with mushrooms, cook the same time.
- Remove from the heat, add the coriander and squeeze the juice from one lime. As we are going to drink it cold, let it cool down and then put it in the fridge for at least a couple of hours (or until it reaches the temperature that we want).
- Serve in a bowl and decorate with a few slices of red chili, a generous amount of pickled red onion, a few coriander leaves and a piece of lime. As a final touch (optional) add a teaspoon of spicy oil on top.
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