~Amanda~
One of our absolute favorite things to do is taking cooking classes. Going to a class and learning how to cook new foods, about different styles of food, and new techniques gets us so excited – it would be a dream come true to actually be able to go to culinary school full time, but for now, random weeknight classes will do just fine. For Jackie’s birthday present this year, my mom and I took her to a Thai cooking class at our favorite cooking school, Cook Street, in Denver. We all really love Thai food and thought this would be such a fun, delicious, and informative class to go to, and we were sure right… we had the best time and learned a ton. We enjoyed the food we made so much that my mom and I decided to replicate the same exact menu for Jackie’s family birthday dinner at my parents house the following week and are sharing all the recipes with you too so you can enjoy them also. The first course is this Coconut Chicken Soup, the second is Beef Satay Skewers with Peanut Sauce, and the third is Vegetables with Coconut Curry and Jasmine Rice.
As you look through all these Thai recipes you’ll notice that there are some unique ingredients that you might not normally use or find at your regular grocery store (like lemongrass, fish sauce, and curry paste). You should be able to find an Asian marketplace nearby for these ingredients; they are pretty prevalent these days. We go to Pacific Ocean Marketplace and it has everything you need (and more, it’s an awesome store… such a great place to buy all your seafood and meats)! So the first step is preparing the lemongrass. This was our first experience with lemongrass and we are so happy we finally know how to use it now. First, you have to peel off the rough, fibrous outer layers. Then for this recipe, you cut the inner part into 3 inch pieces. And finally, use the side of a knife to ‘crush’ them to release the flavor. When you’re using lemon grass in other recipes, you’ll always peel off the outer layers and then you will most likely mince the middle parts as finely as possible. It’s super fibrous, so you can’t just throw it into a food processor as a whole stalk, it will break your food processor!
The rest of the soup making process is so easy; add the chicken stock, lemon grass, ginger, lime zest, and shallots to a large pot and simmer for an hour to infuse those great Thai flavors into the broth – your house is going to smell awesome too. You’ll then strain out all of those additions from the broth as you want the flavor but not the actual ingredients in your soup. You will then cook the chicken in a separate skillet to brown it and then add to the pot with the stock. Browning it gives it just a little more flavor and texture than you would get from just putting it in the broth raw and boiling it. Then add in the remaining ingredients and simmer for about 10 minutes to heat through. And that’s it, the soup is ready! The flavor is so unique and tasty; the freshness of the lemongrass, ginger, and lime pops through the layers of flavor you get from the somewhat spicy curry paste, subtle fish sauce, and the creamy coconut milk. Course one, complete! Enjoy!
- 4 fresh lemongrass stalks
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 4 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
- 2 tablespoons lime zest
- ¼ cup shallots, diced
- 1 pound chicken thighs, boneless and skinless, cut in cubes
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 8 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 14 ounce cans coconut milk
- ¼ cup yellow curry paste
- Thai basil, for garnish
- Optional: 4 fresh red Thai chilies, seeded and chopped
- Peel off the outer layers of the lemon grass stalks. Cut the center into 3 inch pieces and crush with the flat of a heavy knife.
- Put the chicken stock in a large pot along with the lemon grass, ginger, lime zest, and half the shallots. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently for 1 hour. Strain the liquid through a sieve and discard the lemon grass, ginger, lime, and shallots, then return the stock to the pot.
- In a large skillet, add 2 tablespoons of oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and brown on both sides (about 5-7 minutes total). Add the chicken to the pot with the stock.
- Pour the white wine in the skillet to deglaze and then pour into the pot with the stock also.
- Add the curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, coconut milk, and remaining shallots (and chilies if you choose) to the stock pot. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Serve and garnish with basil leaves.
