Lemon Grass and Chicken Thai Soup

In the past couple of months I have been exploring the secrets of Thai cuisine. One of my friends from our yoga class is Thai. Sometimes we talk about food before classes so I asked her if she was willing to teach me a couple of Thai dishes. She said she was not a pro or chef but would be happy to teach me home made Thai food that she learned from her mother and grandmother. That was exactly what I dreamed of.

My friend turned out to be a great, very meticulous teacher. During our three meetings she taught me several basic Thai dishes that became already my family's favorites. I have learned that Thai cuisine is easy, simple, and very fresh. Even coconut milk curries are light, and the vegetables used in them still crispy. And you can have the most delicious dish with just three ingredients.

Last Thursday, she showed me how to make one of classic Thai soups--lemon grass and chicken soup. In no more than ten minutes a bowl of light and fragrant soup was on the table.



Lemon Grass and Chicken Soup
(Serves four)

Ingredients:
1 organic, chicken breast fillet, thinly sliced,
2-3 heaping tbsp. of Tom Yum paste (available at Asian food stores),
8 white mushrooms, washed and sliced,
4 sweet lime leaves,
1 stalk lemon grass,
3 branches of fresh coriander (leaves only),



Preparation:
1. In a medium pot bring to boil 6 cups of water.
2. Cut out green parts from lemon grass and cut the white parts into diagonal slices. Add them to the boiling water.
3. Add tom yum paste and teared lime leaves. Let it all cook for about 3 minutes to release the flavors.
4. Add sliced chicken breast and cook for about 2 minutes (if you cook it for too long the breasts become hard)
5. Finally, add sliced mushrooms. Let them cook for one more minute and turn off the the heat.
6. Add cilantro leaves and serve the soup hot.

Tarragon Chicken Soup--with a Potato Surprise

Maybe because it is again so cold, this winter soup came to my mind today. I ate it more than twenty years ago in London.

When I was working in London in an interior designer studio, sometimes my boss Alexandra prepared this soup for lunch. At that time it was not my most favorite meal from all she made, as I am not particularly a soup person. But today, thinking how much good style and how many useful rules I have learned from her at that time, this soup stays in my memory as a souvenir of the good and exciting times.

She cooked it during winter months. She usually put a whole chicken in a huge pot and as many whole potatoes as the people the soup would be served for. I do not remember any other vegetables being added to it, which seems a bit odd. If any, they must have been only leeks and celery, as the soup was dark green in color. But I certainly remember that there was plenty of dried tarragon which made the whole taste of that chicken soup. She cooked it very slowly for a long time until the chicken and potatoes became soft. The soup looked a bit like a bouillon and was served with whole potatoes and pieces of the chicken meat on the plate. And it was surprisingly very tasty. A kind of eintopf.

These days I do not even ever buy a whole chicken, so I made a version of it with a very lean breast meat. I also added leeks and celery. When the soup was ready it tasted nice and delicate but it was very aromatic thanks to the tarragon, almost exactly as the soup I had in Alexandra's Chiswick studio many years ago.

Tarragon Chicken Soup
(Serves four)

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (or any other parts you like), preferably organic,
4 large potatoes, peeled,
1 medium leek, washed well and sliced,
4 celery sticks, sliced,
2 tbsp dried tarragon leaves,
1 bay leaf,
3 all spice grains,
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. In a large pot put a gallon of water with a half a tbsp of salt, bay leaf, and all spice. Bring it to boil and add whole potatoes and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
2. Add to the pot sliced chicken meat (or whole other pieces) leek, celery and tarragon. Bring to boil and cook for about 30-40 minutes, until potatoes are soft and vegetables turn dark green color.
3. Season with pepper and serve in bowls with a whole potato in the middle.