Cooking for peace, thailand: tom kha kai soup, chicken, coconut milk and lemongrass

Cooking for peace is simply like Sophie and other greedy people, cooking for the day of a country's national holiday, so here for December 5th for Thailand, like a hand extended to the other side, what unites all the human beings of this Earth is the pleasure of cooking for those we love, the pleasure of sharing a meal, together, whether we are from here or abroad.

So we take air Tenderness and we go to Thailand to celebrate with its 67 million inhabitants (in 2012) their national holiday which is also and quite simply the birthday (88 years old this year) of their king Rama IX.

Thailand, whose surface area and population are fairly close to Metropolitan France, is mainly dependent on tourism, the former kingdom of Siam which became Thailand is a constitutional monarchy but also a military dictatorship, the country having suffered 19 coups d' état between 1932 and 2014.

I dream of one day going to visit the country and its close neighbours (Cambodia and Malaysia among others), for the moment I travel in my kitchen and my children start to love our culinary trips without moving from home.

I chose to share with you a very nice soup, a Tom Kha Kai soup, made with coconut milk and chicken.

For 4 people you will need:

1 can of 400 ml coconut milk
1 stalk of lemongrass
4 leaves of kaffir lemon (or a zest of combava)
1 vegetable stock cube
4 cm of galanga root (or ginger root)
2 tbsp nuoc mam sauce
400 grams of chicken breast
400 grams of fresh white mushrooms (bets)
1 bunch of fresh coriander
1 small red pepper
1 onion
2 tablespoons oil

In a casserole, melt the onion thinly sliced with the oil, add the peeled and thinly sliced galanga, the lemongrass cut into segments.

Thinly slice the mushrooms, add them, cut the chicken into strips.

Cover it all with coconut milk and the same amount of water.

Add the nuoc mam sauce, vegetable stock cube, kaffir lemon leaves and chili pepper (if you don't like the spicy taste, don't cut it, leave it whole and make sure you don't pierce it to avoid letting the seeds get into the soup).

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until chicken is cooked.

Coarsely chop the coriander and add it to the soup.

Serve very hot, with a hint of lime if you like a little acidity.