Saturday, February 26, 2011

My favorite creation. Thai Coconut Chicken Curry Soup.

So this soup was created from a past memory.  My ex husband took me to a hole in the wall restaurant.
The kind that looks pretty ghetto on the outside, and when you go in you think.... why am I here?
Thai Kitchen on Muldoon, in Anchorage, Alaska. This place is full of win and this is where I got my first dose of Thai Coconut Chicken Curry soup.
Just by tasting it, I modified it. And let me just say this. IT IS ADDICTIVE!

First you'll want to go to Walmart or an Asian store if you have access to one.
You will need these two, sometimes hard to find items:


The Golden Curry is a small skinny package. Inside you will find what looks like a chocolate bar in connected segments that smells of curry. This is what makes the soup!
The coconut milk, is regular with the cream of the coconut. Don't DON'T get sweetened.

Now that I've scolded you, you will need 4-5 chicken breasts, frozen or fresh and skinless. (they both taste the same to me)
2-3 cans of coconut milk
one plastic carton of chicken stock
2-3 squares of curry (how much you use depends on how much curry flavor you like. I tend to use 4 myself.
1 1/2 cups of unsalted roasted peanuts or cashews
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes ( I don't care for it, but I remember the stuff from the restaurant had it)
1 lime cut into slices/segments if you want to squeeze some into your soup
4-5 potato's boiled and skinned/whole

Easy recipe ahead!

Get a big soup pot, enough to hold 10 or so servings of soup.
Put the chicken breasts in the pot and add enough water to cover them, with maybe an inch above.
Boil the chicken until done (white in color). Remove chicken and set aside to cool.
The water will now be full of chicken stock and a sort of froth from the chicken.
LEAVE this in the pot, and let it continue to boil.
You will want to break of 2-3 squares of curry and sprinkle into the boiling water. Stir or smash it at the bottom until it's blended into the water and not in pieces.
Add all the contents of the coconut milk from the cans and stir slowly while waiting for the water to bubble.
Add entire contents of chicken stock while still stirring. (any of these will do except the stock tablets)

Slowly drizzle in the peanuts and slow cook for about 30 minutes. The peanuts will soften a bit while remaining crunchy in the center.
Hopefully you know how to boil a potato and skin it. If not just ask and I'll be happy to explain!
Otherwise, you want to chop the potato into small squares (think slightly bigger than chowder size chunks).
Add them to the soup and keep it on medium flame.
Take the cooled chicken breasts and chop them into bite size chunks and add them to the soup.
The soup is pretty much done but I like to let it slow cook and add about half a teaspoon of cream of tartar to thicken it. You can also make flour rue and add that as well. It's up to you if you like thick soup or runny.
I always prefer thick soup. Sticks to your ribs better :)
The potato's will thicken it slightly from the starch, but if you prefer thicker, do the above!
I like to add in green onions, or chopped green herbs of some sort for garnish.
You can add a dollop of sour cream to cut the curry if it's too much for you.
This soup is pretty much the only good memory I have of my marriage and one pot of the measured ingredients usually wields leftovers for a couple of days. This soup freezes nicely if you use a good freezer Ziploc.
Squeeze a little lime over the top of it too if you know anything about Thai food.
Thai food is based off coconut, lime, peanut, and chili.. At least from what I've seen and tasted.
This is a low carb recipe, and if you would prefer not to use potato's you can easily substitute cauliflower or parsnips.
Up to you! EXPERIMENT AND ENJOY!!!!

P.S.- You can decrease the fat by using light coconut milk as well. This is not a non fattening soup but it is tasty!

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