Tom Ka With Tofu Or Tom Yam Soup Food

VEGETARIAN TOM YUM SOUP

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Pour the stock into a soup pot. Add the prepared lemongrass, plus the lime leaves, chili, garlic, and galangal or ginger. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, or until the broth is very fragrant.
• Add the mushrooms. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft.
• Add the bok choy and cherry tomatoes. Gently simmer 1 to 2 more minutes (the bok choy should remain on the crisp side).
• Reduce the heat to low and add the coconut milk (if using), sugar, soy sauce, and lime juice. Add the soft tofu and gently stir. Taste-test and adjust as needed.
• To serve, ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with fresh basil and coriander. Serve and enjoy.

TOM YUM SOUP WITH TOFU AND VERMICELLI

Steps:

• Soak the vermicelli in room temperature water for 10 minutes, until they have softened. (Disregard package instructions.) Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the soy sauce, lime juice, sambal oelek and garlic. Set aside.
• In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine the lemongrass, ginger, makrut lime leaves and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add the mushrooms, and cook for 5 minutes. Discard the lemongrass stalks. Add the tomatoes and tofu, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the tofu is warm and the tomatoes have softened.
• Add the sambal oelek mixture, salt and drained vermicelli to the soup, stirring gently to break the tofu into bite-size pieces. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the noodles are transparent. Turn off the heat, and stir in the evaporated milk, if using.
• Divide the soup into four bowls, top with scallions and cilantro leaves, and serve immediately.

TOM KA KAI (THAI COCONUT CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• In the bottom of a large soup pot, heat the oil over high heat until very hot but not smoking. I often make this is a wok on the stove.
• 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.
• Taste test and adjust flavors as follows:.
• Not salty enough - add more fish sauce.
• Too sour - add a little more brown sugar.
• Too spicy - add more coconut milk.
• Not spicy enough - add more chilies.
• Ladle into 4 soup bowls and garnish with remaining onion greens, cilantro, and basil.
• Variations:.
• Add more vegetables such as some sliced red bell peppers with the mushrooms.
• Serve over wide rice noodles for a main dish serving.
• Make vegetarian by increasing mushrooms in place of chicken and substituting vegetable stock.