After a day spent roaming the byways through farm country I had picked up some nice produce and poultry: fresh, tender, sweet, carrots; young yellow summer squash and green zucchini; and a package of fresh from the farm, pasture raised chicken thighs. I had just made a quick trip to the big city a few days ago to stock up on Asian ingredients, so I had new bottles and tubs of various things like cream of coconut, fish sauce, Thai green curry paste and Tom Ka soup paste; and small, vividly orange colored dried shrimp, as well as some nice, hot Thai peppers, Key limes, and a big, fat, young, galangal root.
I was thinking of making a Thai-style curry but it has been just too hot out and I wanted something spicy, but light, packed full of electrolytes, and full of liquid to rehydrate me. A summery vegetable and chicken version of Thai Tom Ka soup sounded perfect. This style of soup has a mild to medium heat, a strong citrusy tartness and tang to it, and can be made quite quickly. Just the thing for a warm summer day.
I was thinking of making a Thai-style curry but it has been just too hot out and I wanted something spicy, but light, packed full of electrolytes, and full of liquid to rehydrate me. A summery vegetable and chicken version of Thai Tom Ka soup sounded perfect. This style of soup has a mild to medium heat, a strong citrusy tartness and tang to it, and can be made quite quickly. Just the thing for a warm summer day.
Most of the assorted ingredients I used. In the background are various red, green, and glutinous rices; red sorghum; as well as some homemade wine, cider, and beer vinegars.
A closeup showing the veggies and galangal root, a cousin to ginger but with a more herbal and citrusy taste.
Fresh, pasture-raised chicken thighs. I deboned them myself, saving the bones and attached meat scraps to use in making a soup stock at a later time. I then cut the chicken, including skin and the small amount of fat (pasture raised chicken has much less fat than commercial chicken), into thin strips. If you use commercial chicken you can remove most of the fat if you want, since there can be quite a lot. A little fat helps carries flavors and helps make you feel full from a meal, so you don't want to remove every bit of fat or skin.
Some assorted Thai pastes: Green curry, Tom Ka soup, and Tom Yum (which I didn't use).
Fresh vegetable noodles from the refrigerated section of my Asian supermarket. They have spinach, broccoli, and celery in them. The directions said to cook for 20 seconds but this was a mis-translation, 5-7 minutes was more correct.
First I put the chicken in the pot. Then I filled it 3/4 of the way with water and added all the ingredients except the vegetables and noodles. I brought this to a boil and then simmered it for ten minutes. I then added the vegetables and brought it back to a boil.
Then I added the noodles and simmered for another five minutes. The total cooking time was less than twenty minutes for a fast and easy, spicy and tangy, summer soup.
Summery Chicken Vegetable Tom Ka Soup
One pound of Chicken thigh
1 yellow summer squash
1 Zucchini
A two inch knob of Galangal, peeled and sliced thin
The juice of 6 Key limes
3 Carrots
1/4 cup of dried shrimp
4 Thai peppers, thinly sliced. Half for the soup and half for a garnish at the table to taste.
8 ounces (half a package) of Fresh vegetable noodles
1 tablespoon of Chicken bouillon paste
2-4 dashes of Fish sauce
2 tablespoons of Cream of coconut
2 tablespoons of Green curry paste
6 tablespoons of Tom Ka soup paste
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