Cravings - or why I make this soup once a week! Thai Coconut Soup.

Just before we left Illinois a good friend took me to lunch at this little Thai restaurant.  The conversation was great, but it was the soup that in many ways changed my life.  Or at the very least what I crave.  I crave this soup.  Don't know why really since it's so very different from anything that I would normally eat.  It's not a flavor of my past nor some other sensory memory thing.  It's just so damn good!  I had to find the recipe and failing to find it on the internet EXACTLY like I wanted I did what I always do.  Experiment.  Tweek.  Mess with the normal and make it my own brand of crazy. 

Here's what cha need to do this -
Grocery list:
1 lb of chicken breast frozen
lemon grass (just the white part - split in half)
Raw Ginger (a peeled piece the size of your thumb)
onion (diced)
Thai chilies (5 of those little redhot buggers)
Fish sauce 2 Tbs
4 cans Chicken broth (or my method if in need)
14.5 oz can of coconut milk(NOT COCONUT CREME)
fresh cilantro (handful chopped)
sliced mushrooms (you pick your poison)
4 limes juiced and the zest from 1 about 1Tbs (buy 5 limes just in case you need more juice)


Slap the chicken into a stock pot and cover it with about 3 quarts of water, cover and let it cook away.  Add more water if it looks low and basically just boil it.  When it is fully cooked (about 20 minutes) remove and hack it apart.  Tiny pieces are great.  Put back into the water and either add more so that you have 3 quarts or add chicken broth to equal about 3 quarts.  This is not super precise since you will be adjusting later.  Add your mushrooms,  2 T of Fish sauce, chilies, lime juice and zest, ginger and lemon grass.  Basically all but the coconut milk and cilantro.  Cook this for about 10 minutes at a good boil but not too crazy.  Reduce the heat to low and add the coconut milk and cilantro.   Turn off the heat and let the flavors get good and friendly with each other and then taste it.  If it needs a bit more fish sauce go for it, but not too much - that stuff is intense!  More lime juice?  Go for it.  Taste and see what you think.

NOW as far as eating it.  You don't eat the big hunks of ginger, lemon grass or chilies although you can. I just wouldn't.  I have actually cut them up into tiny pieces so that they could be eaten but it's a bit of a pain.  Try it both ways and tell me what you think.

Tips:  Buy good quality fish sauce.  It really does matter though the stuff smells like - well - something not very nice.  But what it does in a dish is amazing.  A little goes a long way so you want the good stuff.  That's pretty true about everything huh?

This really will become a flavor you will crave so when you find a good "world market" buy lots of coconut milk and lemon grass and ginger so you can make this often.  I do!

Enjoy!