RayRay, this one’s for you!
Once a month or so, for the past 5 years, my friend RayRay and I get lunch together – a proper, sit-down lunch, where we can take an hour or so to catch up on old times. We usually hit up one of our favorite Thai restaurants in town, and often, especially in the cooler months, RayRay orders their version of tom kha gai – that is, Thai coconut chicken soup.
Well, the days have gotten colder again, and I’ve been craving a vegetarian version of this delicacy myself. So today, I put a new-to-me recipe to use and got straight to work!
This is one of those wonderful recipes that requires exactly one step to get right – add almost everything to the slow cooker in the morning, then come home in the evening and add the rest (namely, peas and lime juice). Make a little rice to go alongside, and you’re on Easy Street!
Admittedly, sometimes I’m skeptical of these kinds of recipes. Will they really turn out as a restaurant-quality dish? Will they work as well as the versions I’m used to? But in this case, at least, the answer is a definitive Yes. By the time I got home from work, the vegan chik’n had cooked through and the coconut-milk-and-broth blend had warmed to perfection. The onions and bell pepper were softened, and by the time the rice was finished, so were the peas I added at the 11th hour (almost literally).
I cooked a cup of rice in the rice cooker, and then we were ready to feast! We each ladled the soup over the rice and dug in with gusto. And wow, what a taste! The red pepper paste and peanut butter conspired with the coconut milk and broth to bring a richness to the dish, a complexity that was only improved by some Sriracha at the table. The chik’n was soft and had taken on a great deal of the soup’s flavor, and the vegetables were crisp-tender – easy to eat, but not yielding to the broth. The rice proved a perfect complement, and LeeLee and I both found ourselves going back for seconds. One or both of us may have even dipped the ladle back in once more for a last spoonful before calling it a night. Who’s to say?
It’s safe to say that I’m thrilled that we have plenty left for lunch tomorrow. This is a meal we’d fight over, that’s for sure! And we’ll definitely make it again. Maybe RayRay will, too!
:)