There used to be a restaurant in San Diego called Antique Thai. We loved to go there. We would finish weekend chores, shopping and classes and head straight to Antique Thai for lunch on almost every Sunday. My son, a toddler then had a thing with restaurants. He did not like restaurants that were dark and dimly lit(ie in other words, cozy and romantic). So we would go to restaurants that were bright with the sun light. Antique Thai was bright and fit our ergonomic standards. The food was simple but very delicious. This soup came in as a part of their lunch set menu and I loved it so much. Its a simple clear soup with veggies and after a lot of tries, I have come to like this version of mine that comes as close to the original. Here it is.
We will make an aromatic broth with a trio of absolutely essential thai ingredients. We will need galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.
The ingredients for the broth needs a little prep. Crush and chop the galangal roughly. Set aside. Lemon grass needs to be crushed a little to extract the flavors from it. Take the lemon grass stalk and cut into two inch pieces. Crush each of the piece using the back of a knife or a mallet or any heavy object. Next comes the kaffir lime leaves. They need to be bruised a little. Just tear the lime leaves and try crushing them gently in the palm. The ingredients for the broth are ready.
I like to make the broth in a pressure cooker. I used my 3 liter pressure cooker today. Add in the galangal, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves along with two cups of water. Cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. It took about 5 minutes in the cooker. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally. The kitchen would smell thai-licious now.
Strain the broth and set aside. The Thai elixir is ready!
To this strained broth add a veggie stock cube, steamed veggies and a little salt. Bring to a simmer for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and add in the Tofu.
Serve hot!
- For the broth
- 2 inch piece Galangal
- 2 stalks Lemon Grass
- 10 Kaffir Lime Leaves
- 2 Cups Water (500 ml)
- Veggies
- ½ cup diced steamed carrot
- ½ cup steamed green peas
- 1 cup Tofu, diced
- Other Ingredients
- 1 Veggie stock cube
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- Crush and roughly chop the ingredients for the broth.
- Pressure cook the broth ingredients in 2 cups of water. Cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally. Strain the broth and set aside.
- To this strained broth add a stock cube, steamed veggies and a little salt. Bring to a simmer for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and add in the Tofu.
- Serve hot!
Any locally available ( south india)substitute for galangal? And also veg stock cube?
Galangal looks like ginger but has a very distinctive aroma and smell. Sadly, ginger cannot be substituted for galangal. Its called as பேரரத்தை (perarathai) in Tamil. You can find them in country medicine ( Naatu marundhu kadai ) shops.