A while ago, this was while both kethry and I were still suffering from an acute bronchitis, she suggested some Tom Yam Gai, which basically is spicy Thai chicken soup[1]. We used a recipe from Nigel Slater[2] but instead of the three small chillies that he suggested, I used three red and three green lomboks (Dutch chillies) and three bird’s eye chillies.
After all, nothing but a good soup that just makes you sweat like nobodies business to drive away that what ails you. Okay, so it didn’t quite work that way but still I thought the soup was absolutely gorgeous, even if some of us (I am not naming them), thought the broth was three steps short of weapon-grade spiciness.
However a couple of weeks later, while we were visiting the local Wagamama the idea came to both of us that we could do more with the soup and bulk it out a bit. Personally speaking I wanted to try and recreate Wagamama’s spice beef chilly ramen. We finally settled on using some kind of noodles, extra peppers and other vegetables. However as a concession (okay, and the fact we ran out of bird’s eye chillies as I used the last handful in the making of more sambal).
So when it came to making it again, (I think kethry has determined it is so good, it’ll be a stable of our diet from now on), and since it is rather healthy, really the only fat comes from the oil in which the bell peppers are cooked and I am wondering what the result is if I roast them instead.
The picture speaks for itself I think … The basic recipe can be seen on the Food Confessional Blog or in his book[2], but below is my variation which I think is slightly better. ;-) I am nothing if not modest, right?
(recipe after the cut)…
2 chicken breast, skinned
1 litre home-made chicken stock or ready made fresh chicken stock
4 spring onions, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 stalk of lemon grass, chopped into 2.5 cm (or about 1 inch) lengths and slightly crushed
3 green lomboks (or Dutch chillies)
3 red lomboks (or Dutch chillies)
2 bell peppers (I prefer to use one green and one red or orange/yellow for the colour)
1 packet of mini sweetcorn
1 package of mangetout (sweet beans)
1 thumb of ginger, finely chopped in long strips
4 lime leaves
1 tablespoon of nam pla (Thai fish sauce)
1 teaspoon of sugar (use palm or dark brown sugar)
1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon of chopped coriander leaves
1 pack of thick noodles.
Start a couple of hours before hand with making the stock. Use 1.2 – 1.5 litres of water (some will evaporate during cooking), and 2 oxo chicken stock cubes and 1 Oxo vegetable stock cubes, 2 bay leaves, a whole onion (halved but add including skin), peppercorns, chilli flakes and vegetable bouillon to taste. Bring the chicken breast to the boil in the stock, then turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook until the chicken is tender, about ten to fifteen minutes. Check if the chicken is boiled through and turn of the gas and leave to sit. This allows the flavours to soak through and through.
When it is time to start cooking, prepare all the ingredients, remove the chicken and cut into thin shreds, set aside.
Fry the bell peppers separately until they are starting to go soft, but still retain a bit of their crunch.
Once the broth is back onto the boil, turn it down to a simmer, add the spring onions, garlic, lemon grass, chillies, bell peppers, beans, sweetcorn and lime leaves to the broth and simmer gently for another 10 minutes.
Add the fish sauce, sugar and chicken and simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes.
And this moment, use a sieve and let the noodles sit in the simmering broth for about a minute. More than that isn’t needed, they cook rather quickly and will get a bit of extra cooking time once the soup is served. Transfer the noodles to the bowls.
Stir in the lime juice and the coriander. Note: do not boil the lime juice as this will make it go bitter.
Laddle the broth and vegetables around the noodles and serve as hot as humanly possible. As Nigel Slater says: “Tepid Tom Yam Gai is a a friend to no one.“
Enjoy your meal!
[1] – Well you can’t have a blog like this without at least one recipe about hot and spicy soup.
[2] – As featured in his book Nigel Slater – Real Food, ISBN: 9781841151441
