Recipe — tom ka gai

Ingredients

Light coconut milk, 1 can
Sliced galangal, thumb-sized piece that’s been sliced
Sliced lemongrass, 2 small stalks
Halved shallots, 6
Garlic, 1 clove
Kaffir lime leaves, 3, torn
Sliced chicken breast, whatever works for you
Split bird’s eye chillies, 2 (those small hot ones)
Fish sauce, 3 tbsp
Lime juice, a good squeeze (I think)

I kind of followed this recipe from ThaiFoodPlus, but Neil and I agreed on some modifications (and acknowledge where we’ve fumbled!)

Method

1. Bring the coconut milk to the boil.
2. Throw in the galangal, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, and kaffir lime leaves (we didn’t have any kaffir lime leaves, unfortunately).
3. Bring it back up to a slow boil, then add the chicken and let it simmer.
4. Once the chicken has been cooked in the simmering coconut broth, throw in the chillies, fish sauce, and lime juice (we didn’t have any limes either).
5. Give it a stir and take it off the heat.
6. Serve it over rice or noodles.

This is the first time I’ve had a part in cooking something from scratch and it tasted good. And it only took 15 minutes, including prep time. W00t!

Total prep and cooking time on this was 20 minutes!

• 3 Dec 2007

• Thinking