Chicken, Coconut, and Galangal Soup

Chicken, Coconut, and Galangal soup is one of Mike's favorites. That, and the Sour Shrimp Soup. These are both highly flavored soups, best served with a bowl of steaming rice. The soups are used to flavor the rice. One takes a spoonful of soup, ladles it over the rice, and then savors the rice and soup in a relaxed setting. These soups are not quick soups, designed to be slurped down as a quick lunch in the rush to get back to work. They are full-flavored, pleasing to the eye as well as the palate. If you have a shaded patio, or a comfortable nook, these are the places to dine on these soups.

You will need some Kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and lemon grass. You will no doubt have to go to a Thai grocery, or perhaps a Vietnamese or Laotian grocery, to find these. There are no western substitutes than can be used without reducing the soups to the Campbell's level.

Galangal looks a lot like ginger root, but has a thinner, more translucent skin. It may have a slight pinkish tinge. It should be clean and very firm with no soft spots. It's also known as 'kha'. You should be able to find it fresh, but if not, almost any oriental store should have dried galangal. Ginger and Krachai cannot be substituted for galangal.

• A pint of chicken stock or broth
• A piece of lemon grass perhaps 3 inches long
• A couple of Kaffir lime leaves
• A piece of galangal. Depending on the flavor you want, a piece 1-2 inches long will do. Slice the galangal...do not sliver it like you would ginger root. Slice it lengthways, not paper thin, but not too thick, either.
• 3 or 4 tablespoons of nam pla (fish sauce)
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice (note that you do not substitute lime or lemon juice for the lime leaves...the leaves are a required ingredient)
• About 4 ounces of chicken breast, sliced into thin pieces
• About 6 ounces of coconut milk. Bangkok Cuisine in Florida has some excellent packaged coconut milk concentrate which can be stored indefinitely. In fact, they have an excellent supply of Thai cooking essentials.
• A couple or three little Thai chilies, crushed
• Some fresh cilantro leaves to add a bit more flavor and eye appeal

Heat the broth, adding the lime leaves when the broth is hot.

Smells good, doesn't it?

Put in the fish sauce, the sliced galangal, lemon grass (which you chopped finely, didn't you?), and the lemon juice. Now it really smells good. Keep stirring it and bring it to a boil. Add the chicken and the coconut milk. Keep it at a high boil on high heat, stirring constantly, until the chicken is done. Don't overdo it, a couple of minutes is usually sufficient. Just before you take it off the heat, add the chilies. Serve in small bowls, making sure they are nice ones, good porcelain is best - remember, this soup is a state of mind...it helps you overcome the woes and pressures of the day. Don't sell it short by tossing it out on the table with a couple of hot dogs or something equally disgusting. Sprinkle the coriander leaves over the soup as it is in the bowls.

The coconut milk will curdle up because of the lime juice. Not to worry, it's supposed to do that.

Relax. Enjoy it with your sweetie.