Tom Kha Gai / Tajska kwaśna zupa z kurczaka

I have tried this one at Yaya's in Oslo - and possibly at Far East earlier this year. It's warming and it looks good and, as I hope to demonstrate here, it is also easy to make at home. All the Thai ingredients were supplied by Interfood at Brugata. Btw: I wish I knew what all the other things they have in refrigerators there were...



For the soup you will need:
2 cm bit of galangal (which is the kha in the name of the dish), peeled and sliced
2 whole small chillies
2-3 leaves of kaffir lime, broken along their stem to release the flavor
2 stems of lemon grass, cut in pieces 4-5 cm long
1 can of coconut milk (400ml; I use the light variant)
500ml vegetable stock (Vegeta was my choice here)
2-4 tablespoons of fish sauce (skip it if you find its smell/taste funny/revolting or if veggie)
juice of ½-1 lime
1 whole garlic clove
1 tablespoon of sugar
100g or more of button mushrooms cut into fours
1 chicken breast cut into pieces (more if it is a main course; if you are vegetarian, use more mushrooms instead – you are then making a tom kha het)
coriander or vårløk (what do you call it in English?), chopped and used as garnish



Prepare the stock in a large casserole. Make sure it is not too hot when you add coconut milk stirring gently. Heat while stirring and add galangal, chillies, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves. Let it cook for a few minutes, then add garlic, fish sauce and sugar. You might want to check the taste now and see if it needs more of anything, before adding chicken and mushrooms. Boil until the chicken is done. As the last step add lime juice and stir. The soup should be creamy and yet sour. Pour into small bowls and garnish.



Namnam!

Now, the slight problem I have is that I am left with a few pieces of galangal, loads of kaffir lime leaves and too many small chillies to use. Any good ideas what to do with small red chillies? Should I make pickles? Or flavor a bottle of vodka with them? I will be preparing a green curry today but there is no chance I will use that much of everything. So, if anyone among my friends, acquaintances, or colleagues here in Oslo is interested, I can share. Just drop me a line. Beacuse if not, I will spawn a legion of devils here. Like this one:



And you wouldn't want that, would you now?