Tom Kha Soup...kind of.

Today I was craving the sweet-sour-spicy Thai soup called Tom Kha and decided to make it.....well a version of it, using the ingredients I had on hand. I don't usually stock galangal, lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves in my fridge, so I had to improvise. Before you are too impressed that I'm throwing around exotic terms like galangal, you must know that I took two Thai cooking series a few years back. Well, probably 5 years ago, since I was not yet pregnant with Owen.

Tom Kha is a coconut based soup spiked with lime juice to give it tang and infused with hot chili's for balance...since I was lacking some of the flavors, I decided to use a bit of red curry paste as a substitute. I also added cauliflower as the feature veggie. I'm not really a measure it out type of cook, so here is my best guess of what I did:

Red Curry Tom Kha Soup

1 tsp. Red Curry Paste (Mae Ploy brand)
1 cup coconut milk

2 cups broth

1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. sugar

1 sliced jalepeno

2 cups steamed veggies or cooked meat

Juice of a huge lime or 2 small ones

6 button mushrooms, quartered
2 green onions

Sprig of basil

Heat up a few tablespoons of the cocconut milk and cook the curry paste in it for about a minute, releasing the aromas of the spices. Add the rest of the coconut milk and broth, heat to just below boiling. Add the rest of the ingredients, being careful not to let it come to a roaring boil, or the coconut milk will separate (If that happens, don't panic, it will still taste good). Let simmer for a few minutes and garnish with green onion and basil.