Those of you who know me half well, know that one of my most favorite pleasures in the world is a rich bowl of tom kha soup. Well, since I have a lot of time on my hands this week, I made it my mission to perfect my skills at recreating this Thai masterpiece of culinary and hedonistic delight. (to my own detriment)
The first and most important lesson I have learned, is that it is all in the coconut milk. I used to use Tom Kha as a way to test Thai restaurants... a method that has only failed me once (Thai Patio in LA... shitty Tom Kha --amazing everything else) Good quality coconut milk can make or ruin this dish and if it is not good quality it is blaringly apparent. If a restaurant gets that wrong it would likely be reflected in other dishes, esp. curries.
Anyhow, I found what looked like a good recipe online and followed it to a tee. I had this cocnut milk that was on sale at 99 Ranch and it sucked. It was watery--tasted gross and any coconut cream in it seperated and beaded while cooking making the soup more like Tom Yum. It was still edible but I definitely recognized that gross coconut flavor. I've tasted it in mnay canned attempts of tom kha and one of my worst tom kha experiences... Charlie Hong Kongs "Thai Coconut Soup" in Santa Cruz <---puke! I needed to add a lot of TLC to make that soup taste good.
Now for the second pot I purchased two types of coconut milk: Mae Lo Coconut Milk(canned) and Aroy-D Coconut Cream (in a carton). To my surprise Mae Lo was thicker than the cream but the Aroy-D tasted fresher...the Mae Lo tasted canned in comparison but they were both very good. I may have over compensated for the lack of creaminess the previous night adding so much coconut milk I almost drowned out my spices...and created a soup so rich that three bowls of it last night made me nauseous. It was tasty though. So if I were going to make it again, the following recipe is how I would make it --less creamy than last night, but still creamy. You can adjust the creaminess by playing with your balance of coconut milk to stalk. All the ingredients can be found at 99 Ranch.
Vegan Tom Kha Hed
1/3 cup vegetable stock (or bouillon)
4 lime leaves hand torn into strips (in the produce section of Asian markets)
6 slices galangal (thai white ginger-- tastes distictively different than normal ginger)
1 stalk of lemon grass (bottom white part only... chopped about an inch long and in half and hammered to release oils)
1 or two Thai chilies (depending on spice tolerance) chopped large enough to recognize and avoid
juice from 1 1/2 to 2 limes to taste
Salt to taste
Lots of cilantro to garnish
Veggies and Tofu:
The soup is traditionally made with mushrooms, I like white mushrooms in this but you could try shitake or button mushrooms too.
Green Onions add a lot of flavor. Thinly sliced purple onion works too.
In addition to this you can add whatever you like. I prefer: carrots, a plum tomatoe, and broccoli (though if used add near the end so that it doesn't overcook).
I like cubes of extra firm tofu but you could try fried or flavored.
Take 1/3 cup of water and bring to a boil with 1/3 of a vegetable bouillon cube (or use stalk).
-Add your galangal, chilies, lime leaves (tearing them by hand) and lemongrass. Let boil until flavors are released (about 5-7 minutes). Add coconut milk. Let simmer a few minutes but don't let the soup get so hot that the coconut milk begins to seperate.
-Add your tofu and veggies starting with your roots and onions, then your mushrooms, and lastly yout tomatoes broccoli etc. A little goes a long way....
-You want to add the lime at the end so that it tastes strong and fresh...not boiled down.
-Now you can play with the salt and adjust to your prefernces.
-Finish by garnishing with cilantro.
It's deceptively simple and will turn out great as long as you have good coconut milk!
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violetonyx
