Tom Kha Kai - Chicken soup with coconut milk

This is a mild but spicy chicken soup (it can also be made with shrimp, pork, beef or mushrooms)

Ingredients:

Note:* the number of red chilies is a personal choice. It can be as few as half a chili per diner, to as many as 8-10 per diner, but the dish should retain a balance of flavours and not be overwhelmed by the chilies. Personally I would suggest about 8-12 chilies for this recipe.

Method: Heat the stock, add the lime leaves, lemon grass, galangal, fish sauce, and lime juice. Stir thoroughly, bring to a boil, add the chicken and coconut milk, bring back to the boil, lower the heat to keep it simmering and cook for about 2 minutes (until the chicken is cooked through). serve: Not really intended to be eaten as a separate course, you could serve it with just a serving of steamed white (jasmine) rice, or together with a Thai meal. This quantity serves 4 with other food, but is probably only enough for two if eaten separately.(cikp)