gourmet babble

• 1 1/2 cans chicken broth
• 1/2 can coconut milk
• 1/2 - 1 stalk lemongrass
• 2 - 3 kaffir lime leaves
• 0 - 5 Thai red chilis, seeded and thinly sliced
• 0 - 5 Thai red chilis, stems removed and bruised
• 1 inch fresh galangal, unpeeled and sliced like thick coins
• 1 tsp sucanat
• 2 - 4 tbsp lime juice (total amount from 1 - 2 limes)
• 1 - 2 tsp palm vinegar (or coconut or other mild vinegar)
• 8 oz straw, button, cremini, or shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/2 - 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1 drop bergamot oil (optional)
• 1/2 tsp honey or simple syrup (required only if using bergamot oil)

If you are using the bergamot oil, mix the oil with the honey or simple syrup. Be sure to only use 1/4 tsp of your honey or simple syrup mixture in the soup. It is ultra concentrated (all standard warnings about working with and cooking with essential oils apply here, especially since bergamot oils that are not bergaptin-free can potentially cause adverse long-term effects if you apply full-strength directly to skin and immediately expose to sunlight) and the remaining syrup should only be used in a large recipe or sauce — don't ingest directly unless you know what you are doing!

Put pot on low heat. Simmer all ingredients but mushrooms, green onion, and cilantro for 90 minutes. Add mushrooms and simmer another 15 minutes. Add cilantro and green onions and simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve. If for some reason you must reheat or simmer for an extended period of time after the cilantro is added, add a little fresh cilantro leaf just before serving each time.

If you alter the recipe, the critical part to maintain is the 3:1 ratio of broth to coconut milk.

Notes: Tom Kha Gai is one of my holiest foods, but like many asian soups, it is predicated on some unavoidably salty ingredients — for Thai cuisine, this is usually fish sauce. Thus, one of my no-sodum holy grails are soups such as Tom Kha Gai, Tom Yam Goong, Chinese Hot & Sour, and the nouveau Spicy Thai Gazpacho that worked its way around the Chicago high end dining circuit at restaurants such as Shanghai Terrace and Spring towards the end of the summer.

Amazingly, this recipe worked very well for me, although I almost broke it by trying to "fix" it by adding more coconut milk. I also ended up heating it at 150° for an extra hour or two, although the flavors just kept mixing more and more, so perhaps a longer initial simmer yet. In fact, even when refrigerated overnight, the flavors kept mixing, and kept seeming to compensate further for the lack of salt. I have yet to figure out how to leverage this.