Tom Ka Gai

This has hands down been my favorite soup for as long as I can remember. It’s never actually cross my mind to try making it until recently and boy am I glad I did. I read a few different recipes before trying it and though most (if not all) called for fish sauce, I opted out of using it because it’s not something we ever cook with in this household. The end result was delicious, and I will most likely be making it again as it was super simple and so delicious in smell and in taste.

Ingredients:

1 can of Coconut Milk

2 cups of chicken stock

6 oz. of bite sized chicken cubes

1 stalk of lemon grass (use the bottom whiter part, slit it down the middle and squish it to release some of the flavorful oils)

¼ cup of fresh lime juice (about one lime) – set aside the remaining lime skin

1 tbsp of sugar

1 tsp of ground ginger

1 ½ tbsp of curry paste

10 whole mushrooms, halved

Fresh cilantro

1. In a large pot, bring the chicken stock, coconut milk, lemongrass, lime skin, ginger and sugar to a boil.

2. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. While the broth is simmering, fry the chicken until it is just cooked.

4. Once the 30 minutes have elapsed, stir the cooked chicken, halved mushrooms and curry paste into the broth. Add salt to flavor according to your preferences.

5. Garnish with as much or as little cilantro as you like, I personally would a handful but not everybody likes cilantro as much as I do.

6. Serve hot, and enjoy.

(I originally put whole mushrooms into the soup but I thought they were way too big so I cut them in half, with scissors. Elodie thought it was hilarious so she took a picture, but I say, whatever works best works for me. I didn't have to take all the mushrooms out of the soup to cut them and barely added any dishes to the pile!)

Bon Appétit!

Sweet Potato and Coconut Thai Soup

I’ve become a soup junky! This dreary rainy weather has made me want to eat nothing but soup all day, everyday. Plenty more soup recipes will no doubt be coming this way… If you enjoy Thai flavours, you will no doubt love this soup.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Sweet potato chunks (peeled)

1 tbsp. Canola oil (original recipe called for peanut oil but my poor brother is allergic!)

1 tsp. Mustard seeds

1 clove of garlic

1 large onion, chopped

1 celery stick, chopped

1 small red chili (chopped, seeds removed)

3 ¾ cups of chicken broth

½ cup of coconut milk (plus more to garnish)

Salt and pepper

Fresh cilantro to garnish (we didn’t have any!) :’-(

1. In a large pot, fry the mustard seeds in the oil until they begin to pop. Stir in garlic, onion, chili and celery until golden brown.

2. Add the sweet potato chunks and the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

3. Once boiling, bring down to a simmer for approx. 30 minutes. Blend the mixture with an immersion blender, food processor or blender until smooth.

4. Stir the coconut milk into the smooth mixture. Adjust the salt and pepper seasoning and serve.

5. Swirl a spoonful of coconut milk into each bowl for an added touch of delicious. Fresh cilantro would have looked good on this soup but we didn’t have any! L

Bon Appétit!