How To Make Thai Soup

Happy Friday! 
Now, I have mentioned Thai soup repeatedly over the last week, and its because I'm completely and totally addicted! After going to my local Thai restaurant so much that they know me by name, I decided to take matters into my own hands and learn how to make the soup myself! So for today's how-to, I'm gonna show you how to make a Thai chicken soup with coconut milk that is often called Tom Ka Gai, but sometimes also Tom Yum. It may look like a bunch of ingredients, but all in all this is a pretty fast recipe! This recipe serves 2 as a main course or 4-6 for an appetizer!

Ingredients: 
- 6 Cups Chicken Stock
- 1-2 Chicken Breasts, sliced (or you can cheat and get a rotisserie chicken!)
- 1 Lemongrass Stalk OR 3 Tbsp. frozen prepared lemongrass
- 4 Kaffir Lime Leaves (fresh or frozen - you can find at an Asian food store)
- 1 Cup Shiitake Mushrooms, sliced 
- About a thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
- 1-3 Fresh Red Chilies (you decide how spicy you want it)
- 1/2 - 3/4 tsp. dried crushed chili
- 1/2 - 1 can Coconut Milk
- 2 Tbsp Lime Juice
- 2+ Tbsp Fish Sauce
- 3 Green Onions, sliced
* Your Choice Veggies: I like snow peas, tomatoes, cabbage, red bell peppers, green beans and carrots! Other things people sometimes use are: Spinach, Broccoli, Parsley, 
*Optional: Basil leaves, Minced Garlic, 1 tsp. Brown Sugar, 
*Optional: Noodles! Rice! You can use wheat or rice noodles if you want more substance or white or brown rice! 


How To Make It:
1. Slice and mince the bottom part of the Lemongrass stalk, keep the upper part for the soup pot.
2. Pour the chicken stock into big soup pot over medium-high heat & bring to boil.
3. Add chicken, mushrooms, lemongrass (both diced bottom and top part), kaffir lime leaves, & fresh chili. Boil 5-8 minutes or until chicken is cooked.
4. Turn heat down to medium. Add the ginger, fish sauce, coconut milk and all the veggies. Stir well and let simmer gently for 1-2 minutes.
5. Turn heat down to low, and add lime juice and stir. 
6. TASTE TEST! Look for the balance you want between sweet, salty and spicy. If you want it to be spicier, add more chili, creamier, add more coconut milk, more salty add more fish sauce. If you want it to be sweeter you can throw in some brown sugar

Serve and enjoy! This is fantastic on its own or paired with other tasty Asian dishes like Pad Thai. Also, it is fantastic if you're sick or have a sniffle - the chilies and spices help clear up the sinuses and will make you feel loads better!