Tom Kha Gai - First Time Making Thai Food!

Man...I got home almost close to 11 p.m. today,
My night class just went overboard and lasted till a quarter pass 10,
In fact, it was presentation night, and I haven't eaten anything since early afternoon.
(I get stomach cramps when I'm nervous...   > _.<")

All I was thinking during the second half of the presentation was food,
I swear I was seeing grilled steak and tom kha gai (chicken galangal soup) walking around the classroom.

Ahhhh tom kha gai, that sounds so good now,
It was my first time making this Thai soup a week ago, and I'm absolutely in love with it.

(Stomach rumbling)

Ingredients (4 to 5 bowls)?

3 cups of chicken stock
2 cups of coconut milk
3 stalks of lemon grass
6 to 7 slices of galangal
4 red chilies
3 tablespoons of fish sauce
2 lime juice
1 can/200g of straw mushroom
1 lb of chick thigh (cut into bite sizes)
1 cup of bamboo shoots (thin strips)
1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro

How?

Don't get intimidated by the ingredients lineup (like how I was before),
This recipe is actually fairly easy as long as you have all the ingredients on hand.

Have a medium/big pot ready,
Heat up the chicken stock,
Toss in galangal slices, lemon grass, and chilies while the soup is heating up.

*One way to prepare lemon grass:
It's similar to preparing fresh bamboo shoot,
First you cut out the leaf part, so now we're left with the stems,
Peel away the tough outer layers (approximately one to two layers),
Now that's the section we'll use in the soup.
Hit it with the back of the knife to help releasing the flavor,
Chop the stems into 2 inches length, we're all set!

Back to our soup pot,
Once the soup has been simmer for about 5 minutes, add the lime juice, fish sauce, and coconut milk,
Let it simmer for another 5 minutes,
The amount of lime juice, fish sauce, and coconut milk differ depending on your taste,
My version yields a pretty creamy soup,
I suggest you go easy on these ingredients first and gradually adjust into your preference.

Now add the chicken, straw mushroom, and thin sliced bamboo shoots into the soup,
Cook till the chicken is done, add the chopped cilantro to freshen up the flavor,
Couple minutes then the soup is ready to serve.

See, not hard at all right?
Basically we're just tossing everything into the pot and tasting constantly to make sure the flavor is right,
I really enjoyed this dish (big fan of coconut, and sour-ish food),
New found comfort food!

*I feel like I'm still seeing steak walking around..

Cindy's Rating: 7