Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut Milk-Tom Kha Gai

This is a mild but spicy chicken soup (it can also be made with shrimp, pork, beef or mushrooms),
flavored with the very unique flavor of galangal ("kha" in Thai) which creates a heavenly taste
when combined with hot chile peppers, coconut milk, lime leaves and lemongrass. See our new
Tom Kha Salmon recipe made by the Prime Minister of Thailand.

Ingredients

16 fluid ounces soup broth (chicken stock)
4-5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
4 or 5 2 inch pieces fresh lemongrass, bruised to release flavor
1 inch cube (or a bit more) galangal sliced thinly.
4 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
4 oz chicken breast cut into smallish bite sized pieces
5 fluid ounces coconut milk
small red Thai chile peppers, slightly crushed (to taste)
coriander (cilantro) leaves to garnish.

Note the number of red peppers is a personal choice. It can be as few as half a chilli per diner, to
as many as 8-10 per diner, but the dish should retain a balance of flavors and not be overwhelmend
by the chili peppers. We suggest about 8-12 chili peppers for this recipe.

Method

Heat the stock, add the lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, fish sauce, and lime juice. Stir thoroughly,
bring to a boil, and add the chicken and coconut milk, then the chile peppers. Bring back to the boil,
lower the heat to keep it simmering and cook for about 2 minutes (until the chicken is cooked through).
Enjoy!

Not really intended to be eaten as a separate course, we like it served ladled over a bowl of steamed
Thai jasmine rice. This quantity serves 4 with other food, but is probably only enough for two if eaten
separately.