Ingredients
1 12-ounce can coconut milk, such as Chaokoh
1/4 lb chicken breast, cut into small chunks
juice and grated peel of 1 lime
1 4? piece of lemon grass, cut into very thin (1/16?) slices on the
diagonal
3-4 slices of galanga (fresh ginger may be substituted)
Hot chile peppers to taste — preferably Thai birds, with serranos an
acceptable substitute (though I’ve used sweet Fresno chiles
in a variation I’ll describe below), cut into thin circles
Cilantro for garnish
Method
Pour the lime juice on the chicken and let stand while you prepare the
rest of the soup. In a medium saucepan, place the coconut milk, lemon
grass, grated lime peel, galanga or ginger, and (optionally) chiles.
(The optional part is that if you don’t want the whole dish to taste
spicy, add the chiles later; the earlier you add them, the hotter the
resulting dish.) Bring the coconut milk to a simmer.
When the soup is simmering, add the lime-soaked chicken pieces and stir
to distribute them. Reduce the heat so the soup stays just below a boil
and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, or till the chicken pieces are finished
cooking. Remove from heat and serve immediately with fresh cilantro
leaves for garnish.
Now, the *best* way I ever had this soup was with pieces of fresh
grouper instead of chicken. I also added slices of kumquats instead of
the ginger, and used the sweet Fresno chiles instead of Thai birds. We
also served it over Vietnamese rice noodles. Was it southeast Asian or
Caribbean? Who cares, it was wonderful. If you can’t find grouper,
it’d be good with any tender, delicate white fish — sole, maybe, or a
very fresh sea bass, or maybe little chunks of monkfish. I believe I’ve
had this with shrimp as well. (Grouper, BTW, is a type of fish common
in the Caribbean and, if I recall, in other warm-water parts of the
world; the flesh is very white, very tender, and quite delicately
flavored. I’ve seen it in one Asian grocery store in the Bay Area, as
well as in the Bahamas, so I’d guess that Gulf Coast netters should be
able to find it readily.)
Notes:
1. Galanga is similar to ginger, an edible rhizome available in most
Asian groceries. If not available fresh, you can usually find it
frozen. (Well, this is the SF Bay Area; if you can’t find it at Tin Tin
or the New Castro Market, you have to have friends smuggle it in from
Bangkok for you… Other parts of the country may vary.)
2. Chile peppers add a lot to the dish; I’ve had it so hot that I could
barely eat it, and I’ve had it completely smooth, sweet and mild. I
like it in the middle.
3. Lemon grass adds a lot to the flavor and aroma, but as near as I can
tell it isn’t edible unless you puree it. (If there’s sufficient
demand, I’ll print my recipe for Vietnamese turkey fajitas.) I just eat
around the slices of lemon grass and ginger.
