noodly thai tom kha soup. homemade eats.

noodly thai tom kha soup

I went to a decent thai restaurant in Berkeley shortly after finals were over and done with (hooray!), and ordered family-style with my 5 friends. Nothing too extravagant. My friend was debating between ordering tom kha soup or another noodle dish. After much persuasion on behalf of this creamy, spicy coconut soup, she chose the noodles and the soup. Good choice. When the soup came out, the aroma of citrusy spice filled our table and memories of hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurants filled my mind. I remember a tiny restaurant, with never many customers, but the most delicious tom kha soup. With a small flame warming the steamy soup atop an elaborate donut-shaped soup vessel, the soup stayed hot and ready for devouring. It is a soup with punch, with flavor, and with a creamy balance of coconut to mellow out the palate. The soup in Berkeley was half that delicious, but it was still incredibly tasty. This soup just doesn't fail. 

I was determined to make it right. With all the exotic spices, like galangal and kaffir lime leaves, I was ready to do it just like the old restaurant that is now unfortunately, closed. After briefly searching health food and asian grocery stores in my area, I decided to use what I had to make my own version of this warming, flavorful soup for a cold New Years supper. I found fresh lemongrass, but not galangal or kaffir lime leaves. In my way of cooking, making substitutions and alterations is normal and quite welcomed. It takes you on a new path, still connected to the starting destination, but moving forward to an unknown taste experience. Experimenting is what cooking is about. Especially when you can't find galangal and kaffir lime leaves in Orange County. It happens. 

So, instead, I plucked off some lime leaves from our little lime tree in the backyard. Lemon leaves could probably work too. Lime zest helps brighten the lime flavor in the soup. If you need more lime flavor, add more lime juice at the end. Instead of galangal, i used fresh ginger root and 1 tsp dried galangal, found in the depths of our spice drawer. You could probably used dried ginger in a worst case scenario. I also added soba noodles, a very untraditional thing to do. But very delicious. If you want a heartier meal on its own, you can add the noodles, but for a starter or side, you can omit them if you prefer. They are very good vessel for coconutty broth though, and quite tasty!

Results of all of this alteration? Noodly goodness! I used a very spicy serrano chile instead of thai chilies, another amendment that ended with a fiery result. I kept the seeds in, not thinking that it would add too much more, but man, that little chili slapped me in the face. In a good, spicy way, of course. If you can find a nicer, calmer Thai chili, go for it, but add any type of chili that you think you can handle. The spicy, zesty flavor was a perfect way to cleanse all of 2012's holiday bingeing, bringing in the new year with flavor, pizzaz and those spicy face slaps. Now i'm ready for 2013. Bring on the spice. 

Here we go:

First step adds the coconut milk, vegetable broth, and spicy aromatics to extract the pungent flavors into the soup broth. 

Heat up the oil to saute the tofu. Make sure the oil is nice and hot!

Saute the tofu until browned on the outside.

Traditional tom kha does not have noodles in it, but I added some soba noodles for a heartier meal.

Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges. Enjoy!

Recipe time!

Thai Coconut Noodle Soup

Adapted from vegetarianrecipesandcooking.com

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 4 dinner servings; 6-8 side servings

Ingredients:

2 14 oz. cans coconut milk
2 cups vegetable stock
8 kaffir lime leaves, or 8 regular lime leaves and 2 tsp lime zest
3 stalks lemongrass, white parts only, halved and cut into 2 inch pieces
6 1/2"- thick slices of fresh galangal, or fresh ginger and 1 tsp dried galangal
2 black peppercorns

1 package firm tofu, cut into bite-size cubes

2 tbsp olive or canola oil

16 oz. oyster or enoki mushrooms, sliced
1 Thai chili, diced very small
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

3 tbsp lime juice

3 oz soba noodles

cilantro for garnish

lime wedges for garnish

Directions:

Add coconut milk, stock, galangal/ginger, lime leaves, lemongrass, and peppercorns to a pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer on low (with the cover on) for 30 minutes. 

While the broth is simmering, heat up the oil in a large skillet at medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the tofu and saute until browned on the edges, about 8-10 minutes.

Strain solids through a sieve to remove aromatics, if desired, and return to pot. Add mushrooms, onion, tofu, chili, soy sauce, and cilantro. Simmer for 10 minutes or until mushrooms are cooked through. Add the soba noodles and cook for 5-7 minutes until noodles are tender. Add lime juice, stir, and serve.

Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges. 

Tips about lemongrass: You can find fresh lemongrass in most health food or asian grocery stores. We found ours near the fresh ginger. Look for stalks that are lemony-green on the lower stalk near the bulb and darker green towards the end of the stalk. To prepare, strip off the papery outer layers to get to the soft, fleshier layers inside. Cut off the lower end of the bulb. You can use the green parts for the soup and strain it out later if you like, or cut lemongrass up until the woody green stalk and discard/compost the rest.