Recipe closely adapted from David Thompson. If you are not in the mood for chicken, try adding shrimp and cooking it through at the last minute--it is fabulous!
Ingredients
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup coconut cream
pinch of salt
1 t palm sugar
2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed to bottom 3-4 inches and bruised
3 shallots, peeled and bruised
2 cilantro roots, scraped clean and bruised
2-3 bird's eye chilies (I used whatever hot peppers I had in the fridge)
10 slices galangal
3 kaffir lime leaves, center stem ripped out
3 oz mushrooms--Thompson suggests torn chanterelles, straw or oyster, none of which we have, so I quartered crimini mushrooms; bunapi and beech mushrooms both work well also
3 oz skinless chicken, sliced (I used shredded roasted chicken)
2-3 T fish sauce
1 T lime juice (I probably doubled)
extra bruised hot peppers to taste
1 T chopped cilantro leaves
Instructions
In a large sauce pan or soup pot, combine the coconut cream, milk and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and season with salt and sugar.
Add the lemongrass, shallots, cilantro roots, bird's eye chilies, galangal and kaffir lime leaves.
Simmer for a few minutes, then add the mushrooms and chicken.
Turn the heat down and simmer until the chicken is cooked through (if using shredded roasted chicken you can still simmer for 5-10 minutes to blend the flavors).
Add the fish sauce, lime juice, extra chilies, and cilantro leaves. Start with lesser amounts and add to taste--it should be rich, salty, sour and hot, according to Thompson. Mine got a tad too salty--my fault I did not account for using commercial chicken stock--and so I added an additional teaspoon of granulated sugar at the end.
Serve with ½-2 t nahm jim prik jiaw swirled into each serving bowl (add to taste). Nam prik pao works wonderfully as well, if you prefer to buy it.
Recipe by The Spiced Life at https://www.thespicedlife.com/my-delayed-but-intense-love-affair-with-tom-ka-gai/