JGE 18 – Thai Chicken Coconut Soup and Salad

Good Day,

For supper, as usual I wanted something more than the mundane. I wanted something different, something exotic and something easy, damn easy to make… And something that would not take me too long. Period.

I had thawed out a couple of chicken thighs. Next I cut them in thin strips and placed them in a glass dish to which I added some fish sauce and lime juice. I set that aside for a short bit.

I next prepared the other ingredients; mushrooms, parsley, chili peppers, left-over rice, chicken broth and coconut milk…not cream, milk. (There’s one hell of a difference.) As I didn’t have any lemon grass in the house I substituted some lemon juice.

I brought the chicken broth to a boil, and while that was working I thought that I should make myself a side salad.

I have been making my own salad dressings for quite some time now. In this case I wanted something that would not compete, flavor wise with the Chicken Coconut Soup. I started with some olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, onion powder, dried basil, salt and pepper. I whisked the ingredients and created a simple emulsion. Next I found some romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and celery. Everything was prepped and then tossed with the dressing.

When the chicken broth had reached a boil I immediately reduced the temperature down to low and added the mushrooms, the chilies, the rice, the chicken, the reserve of the marinade, and the lemon juice. I waited and made sure that the chicken was done. I then turned the temperature down to simmer.

So many times I have added coconut milk to a very hot pot that the coconut milk and the broth separate. This time, with a low temperature, I slowly added the coconut milk and the chopped parsley. Yoicks, it worked. The coconut milk did not separate.

Salad and soup…great meal.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim