Tom Kha Gai

I am becoming a huge fan of coconut soup and all things coconut in general. On my visit to the Asian supermarket I bought all the fresh leaves, herbs and roots to make quite an authentic version of Thai coconut soup--Tom Kha Gai. If you can get a hold of fresh Kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and lemongrass then you're good to go. Everything else can be found in a regular grocery store.

To make the most delicious soup on earth you will need:

For the broth:
- a can of coconut milk
-a can of water
- a one inch piece of galangal
-a long stalk of lemongrass, chopped into 1 inch pieces
-ten Kaffir lime leaves, torn in half

Put these ingredients in a soup pot and simmer for 25-40 minutes, depending on how fragrant a broth you want, and how much time you have. Strain the herbs out of the broth. You're almost there.

To put in the soup:
-a protein...shrimp, chicken, tofu...
-veggies: mushrooms, celery, carrot, tomato...whatever's in your fridge.
Put these things in the broth and let them cook until slightly tender.

Throw these in at the end before serving and simmer for about a minute"
-a couple spoons of sweetener, such as Agave syrup
-the juice of a lime
-a squeeze of Bragg amino liquid, or fish sauce

That's it, enjoy! Be warned that you might want to eat this every day...



Here's some more of those awesome snow pea greens stirfried with garlic, ginger and spring onion.