Hot and Sour Soup with Chicken (Tom Yum Gai) is probably the one of the most famous Thai dishes in the world. There are hundreds of variations, like Tom Yum Goon which uses shrimp instead. It is a wonderful dish and I prefer it spicy. You can sieve out the parts of this soup you don't eat before serving - like lemongrass stalks, galangal, and lime leaves. If serving this to guests who are unfamiliar with Thai food, you may want to let them know what to eat and what not to eat before serving. It is an easy soup to prepare but so flavorful if you have the right ingredients. Start with preparing the ingredients for the soup. Remove the outer layer of the lemongrass stalks and cut off the end. Cut into 1-2″ pieces and smash with the side of a heavy knife to release flavor. Peel and slice your galangal into thin slices. Tear the center vein off the Kaffir lime leaves. Tear each leave half into two pieces , this will help release the flavors quicker into the soup. Cut the tomato into 6 pieces lengthwise and cut each slice into two . Peel the skin off the shallots, slice it thinly and smash lightly. Finally press the limes. Cut the stem of the chilies and cut each chili in half lengthwise.Smash the fresh chilies with the back of a heavy knife, or in a mortar and pestle. The amount of chili you use will decide how spicy the soup will be. If you like it less spicy, use only 3-4 Thai chilies and remove the seeds. Thinly slice the chicken breast and rinse the mushrooms in water. Bring a large pan filled with water to boil, and put in the chicken and mushrooms. Boil at medium-high heat for 12-15 minutes. Discard the water. Pour the chicken broth into a large pan and bring to boil. Add the lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, shallot, chilies and tomato. Boil for 6-8 minutes until the broth tastes herbal. if you’re using fresh ingredients, 4-5 minutes might be enough. Add a pinch of salt and then add mushrooms and chicken slices.
Cook for another two minutes and then add fish sauce and lime juice. Stir and remove from stove. Taste and add more lime juice or fish sauce if needed. Add cilantro leaves. Serve hot!!
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This is my favorite French Onion Soup recipe of all times. The key to a good french onion soup is like great BBQ - you have to go low and slow. This is a very rich and rewarding soup - it takes a while to cook but it is worth the wait. Adapted from Thomas Keller's amazing cookbook - Bouchon. Ingredients: 1 sachet d'épices 8 pounds large yellow onions 8 tablespoons unsalted butter Kosher salt 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour Beef Stock Black pepper Red wine or Sherry wine vinegar 1 Baguette Extra Virgin Olive Oil 6-12 slices Comte or Emmenthaler cheese Grated cheese It is worth reiterating the importance of cooking the onions slowly so that the natural sugars caramelize rather than brown through high heat sauteing. The onions cook for about 5 hours and need to be stirred often. The soup is also better if refrigerated for a day or two. How to make it: Start with slicing the onions length wise and cut along the lines of the onions. Make sure that you trim away any root sections that are still attached. You want to make sure that you get slices in same sizes so that they will cook more evenly. You should have about 7 quarts of onions when you are done. Melt the butter in a large heavy stockpot over medium heat. Add onions and one tablespoon of salt. Reduce heat to low and stir every 15 minutes. After about an hours the onions have wilted, and released most of its liquid. Keep cooking the onions slowly and begin to scrape the bottom of the pan, making sure you reach the corners as well. After about 4 hours the onions should be caramelized and have a rich brown color. Transfer the onions to a smaller pan and add beef stock and satchet. Bring to simmer and cook for another hour until liquid is reduced to 2 1/2 quarts. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar and refrigerate for 24 hours. Prepare the croutons by preheating the broiler. Cut 12 3/8 inches-thick slices from the baguette and place on baking sheet. Brush bread lightly with the olive oil and season with salt. Place under broiler and toast until golden brown , then turn and brown the other side. When it is time to finish the soup, return the soup to simmer. Place six flameproof soup tureens on a biking sheet. Add hot soup to tureens and top each serving with two croutons. Lay slices of the cheese over the croutons so that the cheese overlap the edges of the tureens. Scatter grated cheese, filling areas where the sliced cheese is thinner. Place the tureens in broiler for a couple of minutes, until the cheese bubbles, browns and forms a thick crust. Eat carefully - the soup will be very hot!! This is a great recipe - it takes some time to make but you will be rewarded with your guests complimenting you on the best french onions soup that they have ever had!!
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Cooking at home
In this section you will find recipes and food experiments that I have tried at home. Some successfully. Archives
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