Thai Chicken and Galingale Soup with Rice Vermicelli

Name: Thai Chicken and Galingale Soup with Rice Vermicelli (Kai Tom Ka)
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: For 6–8 people
Ingredients: 5-cm/2-inch piece of fresh galingale, washed and sliced, or 3–4 small pieces of dried galingale; 2.3 litres/4 pints/10 cups water; 1 large free-range chicken, cleaned and cut into 4 pieces; 1 onion, sliced; 2–4 small dried red chillies; 4 kaffir lime leaves; 3 stems of lemon grass, washed, each cut into 3 pieces; 225–285 g/8–10 oz small round aubergines/eggplants, cut in halves; 225–285 g/8–10 oz small round aubergines/eggplants, cut in halves; 450 g/1 lb canned bamboo shoots, preferably already stamped into shapes, otherwise sliced; drained and rinsed; 1 tsp salt; 225–285 g/8–10 oz baby sweet corn, cut in halves; 170 ml/6 fl oz/¾ cup very thick coconut milk, or 112 g/4 oz/½ cup creamed coconut, chopped into small pieces; 170 ml/6 fl oz/¾ cup very thick coconut milk, or 112 g/4 oz/½ cup creamed coconut, chopped into small pieces; 1 tbsp fish sauce; 4 tbsp lime or lemon juice; 4 tbsp lime or lemon juice; 10–16 basil leaves; Salt if needed; 225–340 g/8–12 oz (more if this is served as a one-dish meal) rice vermicelli, soaked in hot water for 5 minutes, then drained

Kai Tom Ka

Preparation info

For
6–8
people

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
1 hr 50

Appears in

The Rice Book

By Sri Owen

Published 1993

About

Like mohinga, the Burmese fish soup, this is an excellent one-dish meal or a soup, depending on how much of it you serve. The vegetable accompaniments are usually cooked together with the chicken, and the dish is served very hot so that the cold rice vermicelli that was put in the bottom of each guest’s bowl quickly heats up. Thai people usually add some nam prik and crisp-fried onions in small bowls for guests to help themselves.

It is worth the trouble of finding small round white

Ingredients

Spicy
Soup

Ingredients

Method