Tom Kha Kai

Tom Khai Kai is one of my favorite Thai dishes. Since there are a number of Asian grocers in Cambridge, I decided to finally try my hand at making this coconut milk based soup. There are Tom Khai Kai pastes where one only needs to add water, meat and desired vegetables, but making the soup from scratch was my goal. I chose a recipe from ThaiCusine.com that was not complicated and included the ingredients that I expected to find.

I only had difficulty locating one ingredient: nam phrik pao (black chili paste). I asked for help locating the paste at the store, but I was only pointed to a shelf. There was a paste that I thought might be the correct one, but the name was only in Thai though the list of ingredients was in English. Since I wasn't aware of the other ingredients in nam phrik pao besides the black chilies, I opted to use a chili paste that we already had at home. I later learned that my hunch was correct, and I should have bought the paste which contained tamarind, shrimp paste, garlic and other items as well as the black chilies.

It was when I was putting the ingredients in the pot that I realized that there didn't appear to be as much liquid as I thought. I then remembered that I thought chicken broth could also be used in this soup. Since we didn't have any, I added some water and some vegetable stock powder to the dish. I think it helped, although it may have added to the overall saltiness of the soup. We liked the soup, but, since my husband is very sensitive to salt, I think that I'm going to explore a different recipe next time. I've already located a promising sounding one, which includes the straw mushrooms that I love and added to the recipe below, at RecipeGullet.com.


Tom Kha Kai (from ThaiCuisine.com)
1. 2 cups (16fl oz/500 ml) coconut milk
2. 6 thin slices young galangal (kha on)
3. 2 stalks lemon grass (ta-khrai), lower portion, cut into
4. 1-in (2.5-cm) lengths and crushed
5. 5 fresh kaffir lime leaves (bai ma-krut), torn in half
6. 8 oz (250g) boned chicken breast, sliced
7. 5 tablespoons fish sauce
8. 2 tablespoons sugar
9. 1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) lime juice
10. 1teaspoon black chilli paste (nam phrik pao)
11. 1/4 cup cilanto / coriander
12. leaves (bai phak chi), torn
13. 5 green Thai chilli peppers (phrik khi nu), crushed


Method

Combine half the coconut milk with the galangal, lemon grass, and lime leaves in a large saucepan and heat to boiling. Add the chicken, fish sauce, and sugar. Simmer for about 4 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked, and then add the remaining coconut milk. Heat just to boiling. Place the lime juice and chilli paste in a serving bowl and pour the soup over them. Garnish with cilantro leaves and crushed chilli peppers.