Any fans of Vegetable Beef soup?

[mr_lebowski]

14. Well-made Tom Ka Gai is the freaking Nectar of The Gods ...

You have to try it ... find a Thai place where people rave about the soup and go get some.

It's basically just a broth with mushrooms and chicken slices (some places will have onion and/or tomato as well, I like it just mushroom and chicken), but the broth is just ... amazing.

It's made with chicken stock, flavored with galanga (a root that's a bit like ginger but milder and earthier), lemongrass, keffir lime leaves, lime juice, coconut milk, and a dash of palm sugar. You can order it spicy and they'll usually add this special Thai chili paste that's made with oil, birdseye chili, some other ground up spices, and a touch of shrimp paste. Changes the flavor a tad but still really good.

Usually the authentic stuff will have chunks of galanga and lemongrass (and sometimes even the whole lime leaves) still in the soup, which aren't really edible so you kinda eat around those.

Tellin' ya ... it's the bomb when done well.

Edit: Also, yeah ... you need the open flame to get the Wok Hei ... which is when they toss the food with the wok tilted down, and catch the oil/water droplets on fire. That flame flavor then infuses the whole dish ... it's totally key.