Tamarind Thai » galangal

Red Cabbage with Coconut Milk and Galangal

Day — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:58:52 +0000

Red Cabbage with Coconut Milk and Galangal

This soup is both beautiful and delicious. The red cabbage adds an exotic look to the soup. If you love “Tom Kha Kai,” this recipe will win over your palate as well. Want to plan a healthy soup for the coming holidays? This one will be sure to “wow” your guests.

2 servings (8 oz per serving)

Ingredients

1 ½ cups shredded red cabbage
1 cup coconut milk
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh squeeze lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce (if substitute with sea salt, use less)
4 large cilantro leaves for garnish
2 inches of galangal, cut into 5-6 pieces
2 stalks lemon grass, cut into 6-7 pieces, smash to break slightly
Fresh chilies or dried whole chilies (if spicy is preferred)
4-5 Kaffir lime leaves, center removed (if available)

Preparation

Bring the chicken broth to boil then add the red cabbage, coconut milk and galangal. Allow the broth to boil again then immediately lower the heat to simmer. Simmer until the cabbage is soft to taste. The liquid will reduce approximately to the correct serving portions. Turn the heat on to medium high; add lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves and fresh chillies to the soup and continue to simmer for four to five minutes longer. Turn off stove; add fish sauce and lime juice. Garnish with cilantro leaves when served.

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Dear Day, I had a bad cold one day and you recommended…

Day — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:00:38 +0000

Galangal is like ginger and we use it in some of our Thai soups

Dear Day,

I had a bad cold one day and you recommended me the chicken with coconut milk and galangal soup for a take out that night. I felt much better after finishing the soup. What is galangal?

Chef Day answers:

I am glad to hear that. Galangal is a rhizome that grows underneath the ground. It looks similar to ginger, but is thinner and paler. It releases a wonderful aroma and flavor when simmered in broth. In South Florida, it is always available fresh from the farms in Homestead.

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Dear Day, where can I find…

Day — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:55:42 +0000

We love sharing our love of authentic Thai cuisine with our customers. If you have a question about how to cook a particular dish, where to get certain ingredients or anything else related to Thai cooking, ask Day Longsomboon, co-owner of Tamarind Thai Restaurant. Your questions will be answered in the blog, so check back often.

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Recipe: Cauliflower Mushroom Coconut Soup

Day — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:45:06 +0000

“This vegetarian soup is one I have developed in my own restaurants to meet the demand for something a little different and delicious for our many vegetarian customers. While cauliflower is familiar as an ingredient in stir-fry recipes, prized for its crunchiness, here it is cooked with mushrooms and coconut milk, so the cauliflower absorbs the flavor of coconut, making it light and sweet.” Vatch

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups (28 oz. can) coconut cream

2 stalks of lemongrass, finely sliced

2 inches fresh galangal or ginger, peeled and finely sliced into rings

4 kaffir lime leaves, coarsely torn into quarters

1 small cauliflower, cut into florets

2 1/2 cups small white mushrooms, cut into halves or quarters, according to size

3 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

2 3/4 cups vegetable stock

4 fresh small red or green chilis, slightly crushed

3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice

cilantro leaves, to serve

Put the coconut cream, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, cauliflower, mushrooms, soy sauce, sugar and stock in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the cauliflower florets are al dente (cooked, but still firm). Remove from the heat and add the chiles and lemon juice. Stir once, pour into a serving bowl, and top with cilantro.

Note: If you are unable to find cans or cartons of coconut cream, use canned coconut milk instead. Don’t shake the can – you will find it has probably separated into thick cream and thin milk. Carefully spoon off the thick part to use in recipes that specify coconut cream.

Galangal is widely available in Asian food stores and sometimes in larger supermarkets. Fresh ginger is used as a common substitute in the West, though it has a totally different flavor and the recipes will not taste the same.

From Vatcharin Bhumichitr’s Vatch’s Thai Kitchen: Thai dishes to cook at home
(Ryland, Peters & Small, 2005, ISBN 1 84172 808x). Used here with permission from the author.

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