Here is the recipe for “Tom Kah Gai”! I present you the recipe as I learned to make it in Bangkok. It is a Thai soup made with coconut milk, galanga,…]]>
Here is the recipe for “Tom Kah Gai”! I present you the recipe as I learned to make it in Bangkok. It is a Thai soup made with coconut milk, galanga, lemongrass, red chili, lime, kaffir leaves and chicken. It is a real explosion of multiple flavors. It may be a little difficult for some to find all the ingredients, but I know from experience, that in most “exotic” stores, it is not impossible to find the basics of this wonderful soup! And given the results, which are far superior and much less expensive than in Thai restaurants, I advise everyone to try this recipe for a real magic potion!
Ingredients for the “Tom Kah Gai” for 4 people:
-1 liter of coconut milk (I use the Aroy-D brand carton)
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-25g of brown sugar
-25g of Nuoc Nam
-80g of fresh galangal
-4 stems of lemongrass
-juice of 1+1/2 lime
-8 lemon leaves (or kaffir leaves depending on the name)
2-3 small fresh red peppers
-a small bunch of coriander
-3 chicken thighs (much softer than white meat, which should not be used in this recipe!)
-12 fresh straw mushrooms or chanterelles
Start by pouring the coconut milk into a large saucepan.
This is what galangal looks like. It looks a bit like ginger.
Cut it into slices with a good knife because galangal is quite strong!
Try to cut slices of 2 or 3 mm.
Throw the 80g of galangal into the coconut milk.
Bone the chicken thighs and remove the skin. Then cut into 4 smaller pieces. Put these pieces in the pan. Add half a spoonful of salt. Put the pan on low heat.
Meanwhile, prepare the remaining ingredients. Cut the straw mushrooms in half. These mushrooms are quite hard to find fresh, but they are available in cans and if you wash them well, they go very well in this soup. For those allergic to canned products, I suggest using fresh mushrooms such as cloves. But it is the only mushroom that can be used. It is better to put nothing at all than button mushrooms or oyster mushrooms (which I love!!).
Cut off the ends of the lemongrass stems. Wash them…
And crush them with a hammer to release their fragrance! It is necessary to crush gently and not to explode the stem to throw it against the walls.
Wash the peppers and lemon leaves. Then you have to tear the leaves to release a maximum of aroma!
The rest of the recipe is simple.
1- when the chicken is almost cooked, add the mushrooms, lemongrass, lemon leaves and lightly crushed chillies.
2- When the soup starts to boil, remove from heat, add the 25g of sugar, nuoc nam and lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning.
3- Return to boil for 5 minutes and serve with coriander leaves.
You can also prepare the soup during the day to serve it in the evening and let it infuse in the afternoon. The flavors will be even more intense!
I forgot to mention that some of the ingredients are not consumable! The galangal, lemon leaves, lemongrass stalks, and chili pepper are only there to infuse in this wonderful soup!
Tom Kah Gai
Here is the recipe for “Tom Kah Gai”! I present you the recipe as I learned to make it in Bangkok. It is a Thai soup made with coconut milk, galanga, lemongrass, red chili, lime, kaffir leaves and chicken. It is a real explosion of multiple flavors. It may be a little difficult for some to find all the ingredients, but I know from experience, that in most “exotic” stores, it is not impossible to find the basics of this wonderful soup! And given the results, which are far superior and much less expensive than in Thai restaurants, I advise everyone to try this recipe for a real magic potion!
Ingredients
- 1 liter coconut milk (I use the Aroy-D brand carton box)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 25 g Brown sugar
- 25 g Nuoc Nam
- 80 g fresh galangal
- 4 stems of lemongrass
- the juice of 1+1/2 lime
- 8 lemon leaves (or kaffir leaves depending on the name)
- 2-3 small fresh red peppers
- a small bunch of coriander
- 3 chicken thighs (much softer then white meat, which should not be used in this recipe!)
- 12 fresh straw mushrooms or chanterelles
Instructions
- Start by pouring the coconut milk into a large saucepan.
- This is what galangal looks like. It looks a bit like ginger.
- Cut it into slices with a good knife because galangal is quite strong!
- Try to cut slices of 2 or 3 mm.
- Throw the 80g of galangal into the coconut milk.
- Bone the chicken thighs and remove the skin. Then cut into 4 smaller pieces. Put these pieces in the pan. Add half a spoonful of salt. Put the pan on low heat.
- Meanwhile, prepare the remaining ingredients. Cut the straw mushrooms in half. These mushrooms are quite hard to find fresh, but they are available in cans and if you wash them well, they go very well in this soup. For those allergic to canned products, I suggest using fresh mushrooms such as cloves. But it is the only mushroom that can be used. It is better to put nothing at all than button mushrooms or oyster mushrooms (which I love!!).
- Cut off the ends of the lemongrass stems. Wash them...
- And crush them with a hammer to release their fragrance! It is necessary to crush gently and not to explode the stem to throw it against the walls.
- Wash the peppers and lemon leaves. Then you have to tear the leaves to release a maximum of aroma!
- The rest of the recipe is simple.1- when the chicken is almost cooked, add the mushrooms, lemongrass, lemon leaves and lightly crushed chillies.2- When the soup starts to boil, remove from heat, add the 25g of sugar, nuoc nam and lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning.3- Return to boil for 5 minutes and serve with coriander leaves.
- You can also prepare the soup during the day to serve it in the evening and let it infuse in the afternoon. The flavors will be even more intense!
- I forgot to mention that some of the ingredients are not consumable! The galangal, lemon leaves, lemongrass stalks, and chili pepper are only there to infuse in this wonderful soup!
Nutrition
Serving: 4peopleCalories: 699kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 22gFat: 64gSaturated Fat: 49gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 734mgPotassium: 729mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 126IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 60mgIron: 9mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
First real difficulty to take this curry in picture! Because when you see it, you can’t imagine how delicious it is! And yet! The “massaman” curry is a Thai curry of Indian origin. The result is a very mild curry, which will appeal to those who want a spicy but mild dish. It can be made with any kind of meat, beef, pork, duck. I propose here a recipe with chicken. The massaman curry is also composed of potatoes and peanuts. I give you the complete recipe of the curry paste to make yourself. The difference between a homemade curry and a ready-made paste is obvious, and the trouble you go through to make it is well worth it.
Recipe of the “curry massaman” for 4 to 6 persons.
For the curry paste:
-2 dried Jalapeno peppers
-¼ teaspoon salt
-2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass
-1 teaspoon chopped galangal
-1 corander root
-1 tablespoon of fried shallots
-1 tablespoon of fried garlic
-1 spoonful to coffee of cumin
-½ teaspoon coriander seeds
-½ spoonful to coffee of cinnamon
-¼ spoon to coffee cloves
-3 spoon to oil
For the curry:
-250g chicken thighs (skinless and boneless)
-150g of potatoes
-3 shallots
-3 pods of cardamom
-3 tablespoons of tamarind pulp
-1 tablespoon of nuoc nam
-3 dried bay leaves
-1+½ tablespoons brown sugar
a handful of unsalted roasted peanuts
-750ml of coconut cream (for cooking)
-250ml coconut milk (for soups)
Instructions:
Start by soaking the red peppers in hot water for 30 minutes. Remove the tip and the seeds inside.
Put them with salt, either in a small blender or in a mortar. Mash or blend (with salt) until pureed.
This may take some time depending on the quality of the peppers.
Bernard’s advice:
you can simplify the task and mix them first and then put them in mortar and continue the work by hand.
Wash the coriander roots. On the picture there are 3 of them because I had to prepare a giant curry for a dinner party! But otherwise it is well one root for the recipe.
Bernard’s advice:
Cilantro with the root can be found at Tang’s or Asian grocery stores. You can cut the roots and freeze them to make other curries later.
Add the coriander root and crush well with the pestle.
Put the chopped lemongrass in a small frying pan. It is available in frozen packages already chopped. This is probably easier to use. Put it on low heat and let the lemongrass dry and toast slightly.
Then add it to the mortar and crush well.
Do the same with the chopped galangal. With a good knife it is possible!
Then cinnamon and cumin and clove powder. Let it toast slightly. Always add to the mortar and mix well.
Then add the fried garlic and shallot. They can be found in pots in Asian grocery stores.
Toast the coriander seeds. To reduce them to powder, I removed the curry paste during preparation and crushed the seeds in the empty mortar, then added the paste.
Continue to crush with a mortar to obtain a curry paste. If it is too hard to work with, put it in a blender for a while.
Heat the oil in a wok. Add the curry paste and let it fry a little until it absorbs the fat. The dough is finished, it can be kept in a cool box for several days or weeks.
If you decide to prepare the curry right away, then add the coconut cream (for cooking) and the coconut milk over low heat.
Add the peeled and thinly sliced potatoes and the chicken cut into pieces. As always, I would advise against using too dry whites for this type of dish. It is advisable to take only the upper part of the thighs because they will be cooked for a long time and will remain tender.
Add the tamarind pulp, the nuoc nam and the sugar.
Unsalted roasted peanuts.
Shallots cut into thin strips.
Finally the crushed cardamom pods and dried bay leaves.
Finally, let the curry cook until the potatoes are done. It takes about 20 minutes on low heat from the last ingredient added. Serve with
sticky rice
(click to get the recipe).
sticky rice
(click to get the recipe).
Massaman Curry
First real difficulty to take this curry in picture! Because when you see it, you can’t imagine how delicious it is! And yet! The “massaman” curry is a Thai curry of Indian origin. The result is a very mild curry, which will appeal to those who want a spicy but mild dish. It can be made with any kind of meat, beef, pork, duck. I propose here a recipe with chicken. The massaman curry is also composed of potatoes and peanuts. I give you the complete recipe of the curry paste to make yourself. The difference between a homemade curry and a ready-made paste is obvious, and the trouble you go through to make it is well worth it.
Ingredients
For the curry paste:
- 2 dried Jalapeno peppers
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass
- 1 teaspoon chopped galangal
- 1 coriander root
- 1 tablespoon of fried shallots
- 1 tablespoon of fried garlic
- 1 spoonful to coffee of cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 spoonful to coffee cloves
- 3 spoon oil
For the curry:
- 250 g chicken thighs (skinless and boneless)
- 150 g potatoes
- 3 shallots
- 3 pods of cardamom
- 3 tablespoons of tamarind pulp
- 1 tablespoon of nuoc nam
- 3 dried bay leaves
- 1+1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
- a handful of unsalted roasted peanuts
- 750 ml coconut cream (for cooking)
- 250 ml coconut milk (for soups)
Instructions
- Start by soaking the red peppers in hot water for 30 minutes. Remove the tip and the seeds inside.
- Put them with salt, either in a small blender or in a mortar. Mash or blend (with salt) until pureed.
- This may take some time depending on the quality of the peppers.Bernard's advice:you can simplify the task and mix them first and then put them in mortar and continue the work by hand.
- Wash the coriander roots. On the picture there are 3 of them because I had to prepare a giant curry for a dinner party! But otherwise it is well one root for the recipe.Bernard's advice:Cilantro with the root can be found at Tang's or Asian grocery stores. You can cut the roots and freeze them to make other curries later.
- Add the coriander root and crush well with the pestle.
- Put the chopped lemongrass in a small frying pan. It is available in frozen packages already chopped. This is probably easier to use. Put it on low heat and let the lemongrass dry and toast slightly.
- Then add it to the mortar and crush well.
- Do the same with the chopped galangal. With a good knife it is possible!
- Then cinnamon and cumin and clove powder. Let it toast slightly. Always add to the mortar and mix well.
- Then add the fried garlic and shallot. They can be found in pots in Asian grocery stores.
- Toast the coriander seeds. To reduce them to powder, I removed the curry paste during preparation and crushed the seeds in the empty mortar, then added the paste.
- Continue to crush with a mortar to obtain a curry paste. If it is too hard to work with, put it in a blender for a while.
- Heat the oil in a wok. Add the curry paste and let it fry a little until it absorbs the fat. The dough is finished, it can be kept in a cool box for several days or weeks.
- If you decide to prepare the curry right away, then add the coconut cream (for cooking) and the coconut milk over low heat.
- Add the peeled and thinly sliced potatoes and the chicken cut into pieces. As always, I would advise against using too dry whites for this type of dish. It is advisable to take only the upper part of the thighs because they will be cooked for a long time and will remain tender.
- Add the tamarind pulp, the nuoc nam and the sugar.
- Unsalted roasted peanuts.
- Shallots cut into thin strips.
- Finally the crushed cardamom pods and dried bay leaves.
- Finally, let the curry cook until the potatoes are done. It takes about 20 minutes on low heat from the last ingredient added. Serve withsticky rice (click to get the recipe).
Nutrition
Serving: 5personsCalories: 463kcalCarbohydrates: 41gProtein: 9gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 324mgPotassium: 496mgFiber: 2gSugar: 28gVitamin A: 139IUVitamin C: 18mgCalcium: 55mgIron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!