Tom Ka Kai, Coconut Thai Soup

Nothing better than a trip to Thailand or at least a visit to your local Thai restaurant, but for the days you can't be bothered to leave the house you can easily prepare this.
Turn this vegetarian by increasing mushrooms in place of chicken and substituting vegetable stock.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch piece
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 200g fresh mushrooms, sliced (a good mix of shitake & oyster mushrooms will do the job)
• 3 spring onions sliced
• 1 stalk lemongrass beaten to death
• fresh galagal root or ginger root, grated
  
• 2 red chillies, crushed
  
• 6 cups good quality chicken stock
• 1 can good quality coconut milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce (but feel free to skip this ingredient)
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• fresh coriander
  

HOW:

In the bottom of a large soup pot, heat the oil over high heat until very hot but not smoking. Salt the chicken and add to oil, tossing to brown all the pieces. Cook about 3 minutes or until outside is browned, but not necessarily cooked all the way through.

Add mushrooms and toss. Allow to cook until some of the moisture is cooked out and the mushrooms are soft. Turn down heat to medium-low.

To prepare the lemongrass, slice and mince the lower portion and reserve the stalk to flavor the soup. You can use a food processor for this, or just mince it by hand. The woody upper portion of the stalk will be removed later, so don't chop it up, simply score it by making a few superficial cuts in it to allow it to flavor the soup.

Add the whites of the onions, reserving the greens. Add the minced lower portion of the lemongrass, grated galangal, and chilies. Toss until just warmed through. Add the lemongrass stalk, lime leaves, chicken stock, coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar and remaining onions, reserving just a few for garnish. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend well.

Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with remaining onion greens and coriander.

Serve over rice noodles for a main dish serving.