Tom Kha Gai -- Thai Coconut Soup

This soup is northern Thailand specialty, called tom kha gai. I'm a huge fan of coconut(Thanks to Kerala) & Thai food(thanks to moving to US). The first time I tasted  vegetarian Tom Kha Gai, at Thai Restaurant served it to me in a large mug.  Paddy asked me Do you like it.? “I love it! It’s like heaven on my tongue.” Ever since then, I’ve been an addict to this soup. So I want to try this soup at home. It really came out well. This recipe is adapted from http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/But I create my own version. The end result was exactly what I was hoping for. It was the comforting and familiar Thai restaurant taste. 

Ingredients

Homemade Vegetable stock -                           2cup

 Lite coconut milk                                           1 cup

Minced galangal                                              2 tsp.

Fresh Lemongrass   -                                       3 tbsp.

 Kaffir Lime Leaves – 2/Grated lime zest            1 tsp.

Lime juice                                                      1 tbsps.

 Thai Frozen stir fry vegetables                         1 cup

Chopped Thai chilies                                        2 no

Thai red chillis paste                                        1-2 tbsp. (depending on desired hotness)

1 red bell pepper, sliced into matchstick-sized strips (reserve some for garnish)

Peanut Butter                                            -      1 tbsp. (optional)

Fired or fresh tofu                                             ½ cup

Sugar                                                               1 tbsp.

Soy sauce                                                         1 tsp.

Salt                                                                 to taste.

Coriander leaves                                                1 stem

Preparation: 

• Put the stock into a pot and bring to a boil. Toss the Galangal, lemongrass, sugar, and lime leaves in. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add the coconut milk, chilies, soy sauce, chili paste and simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Now add the vegetables and fried or fresh tofu, salt and peanut butter. Stirring well to combine
• Simmer for about 10 more minutes.
• Turn off the heat, add lime juice and garnish with coriander leaves. Test for saltiness and sourness.
• You should get the earthy flavor of Galangal, noticeable amount of saltiness, sweetness from the coconut milk, and a fair bit of lime flavor, with a hint of chillis in the background.
• Garnished with red pepper strips and grated lime peel, with extra lime on the side.

 Note:

• Galangal has no real substitute. Ginger does a poor job. In this soup especially, the whole point is the Galangal flavor, so ginger simply won't do. (Tom Kha means "boiled Galangal".).
• I buy lots of lemongrass and Galangal ahead, then chop and freeze in pre-sorted Ziploc bags for future use.  They keep quite well.

Tom Kha Gai Soup