[Intro music]
Galangal Chicken Coconut soup or Tom Ka Gai.
If you are, like I am, a Thai food lover,
you must know that soup and today
you're going to learn how to make it.
To make a Tom Ka Gai you will need: green onions; lemongrass,
those have been cut in half; chicken, boneless and skinless;
chicken stock; galangal, which is similar to ginger but
a different flavor; baby corn; brown mushroom; lime juice;
coconut milk; coriander leaves; kaffir lime leaves;
Thai fish sauce; red hot chilies; and whole black peppercorns.
Prepare the lemongrass.
So like I said earlier the lemongrass
had been cut in half at the market.
Bruise [pounding sounds] the top part.
By bruising it, it will release the flavors.
[pounding sounds] So here I'm using a tenderizer.
Cut about two inches on the root side.
Remove the first layer if it's not nice.
Get rid of this and trim. Great.
Cut the root half in four. And slice it up. [slicing sounds]
Add it to the pot. Great.
Then discard the trimmings.
Crush the peppercorn with the same tool. Great.
And add it to the pot.
Add half of the kaffir limes. Leave that. Great.
So, tear the leaves.
That will expose all the oils and aromatics from the leaves.
Then prepare the galangal.
Galangal has a citrusy earthy aroma.
It's well-used all over Asia and especially in Thai food.
To cut the galangal it's pretty hard,
so you will need a sharp knife.
So we're going to use about a good inch.
So, and maybe that piece. We're going to trim it.
Peel it using a sharp paring knife.
And after then chop it.
So cut it in half. Cut it in four actually, little sticks.
Of course when using galangal, it's always better to use fresh,
but if you cannot find it or if it's not available,
you may use dry.
The end result will be slightly different and of course it will
be preferable to use fresh.
Add the galangal to the pot.
Add the chicken stock and the coconut milk.
Bring the pot to a boil on medium low heat
and simmer the soup for about ten minutes,
stirring the soup a couple of times.
Meanwhile prep your mushroom.
So clean them. I'm using a vegetable brush. [cutting sounds]
Then slice the onions.
So trim the ends.
Of course you washed them before. [cutting sounds]
Position your finger very well.
This is very important if you don't want to chop a piece off.
Great. Prepare the hot chillies.
You may wear latex gloves or put a little bit of olive oil
or vegetable oil on your hands and handle the hot chilies
then wash your hands and the heat will go away with the soap.
You may use fresh chilies or red dried chilies.
So remove the stem. Cut it in half.
Remove the seeds. There we go.
The seeds carry the oil and the oil makes the chili spicy, hot.
So use two to three hot chilies depending on their size
and depending on how much heat you can take.
If you go to Thailand, the Tom Ka Gai could be hot, hot, hot,
so be careful.
Then chop the chilies. [cutting sounds]
Cut the rest of the kaffir lime leaves, roughly.
Roughly chop the cilantro leaves or coriander, same thing.
So not too fine, just a little bit.
Great. Smells good.
Okay. Then slice the chicken. [cutting sounds]
The Tom Ka Hai has been simmering for 10 minutes on low heat.
Turn it off then pass it through a thin strainer.
Then discard those ingredients.
In Thailand or in some Thai restaurants they leave it in the
soup and they serve it with it, but I don't like that.
I don't see the point as this is not edible.
Return the pot to the stove and bring it to a low simmer.
Add the chicken breast to the soup, the mushrooms, the corn.
And simmer the soup for about five minutes to seven minutes
or until the chicken is cooked.
Great. The chicken is cooked.
Then add the lime juice, the Thai fish sauce
and the kaffir lime leaves.
Stir. Taste. And rectify the seasoning.
So the seasoning for us will be lime juice,
so depending on your taste add a little bit more lime juice to
have a little bit more sourness or not.
I have extra lime juice so I'm going to put a little bit more.
Stir. Taste again. Very nice.
Now I feel a little bit of sourness. It's perfect.
Let's plate our Tom Ka Gai.
Serve the soup.
Then garnish with cilantro leaves, a good tablespoon.
Green onions and hot chili.
Tom Ka Gai. Bon Appetit.