Thai chicken and coconut milk soup

It's been a busy few weeks since I last posted, helped along by the really lovely weather we've been having in the Tdot lately. A fair amount of last minute stuff happened surrounding the PHSC Image Show last Sunday, and the show itself went quite well. Since then I've finally had a bit of time to myself to actually plan out and make some of my own meals again. My local Loblaws has been taunting me lately with some lemongrass stalks, and I finally decided to take to the plunge and actually make something with them. I'm sure why I put it off for so long, although it probably had a bit to do with the fact I was always reading varying ways of how to treat it properly when using for cooking.

Thai Chicken and Coconut Milk Soup
Got to love Canadian Living!

Ingredients:
-1 cup of Jasmine or white rice (I'd argue that this optional, it worked with or without the rice),
-900ml of chicken broth,
-1 stalk of lemongrass, halved crosswise and then again lengthwise,
-6 slices of fresh ginger, about 1/2 inch thick,
-1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breasts that have been freshly sliced,,
-1 & 1/2 cups of thinly sliced button mushrooms,
-1 cup of frozen peas (another optional, I put about 1/2 cup instead),
-2 tbsp of fish sauce,
-1 tbsp packed brown sugar,
-1 tsp red curry paste,
-1 can (400ml) of coconut milk,
-1/3 cup of chopped fresh cilantro (again, another optional ingredient as far as I'm concerned), and
-2 tbsp lime juice.

Preperation:
Cook rice according to package directions, or according to your rice cooker.

Meanwhile, in large pot, bring broth, lemongrass and ginger to a boil over a medium-high heat. Stir in chicken, mushrooms and peas. Cook over medium-low heat until chicken is no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, brown sugar and red curry paste. Stir into the pot along with the coconut milk. Simmer until hot and fragrant, for about 3 minutes. Discard the lemongrass and ginger.

Stir in cilantro and lime juice, and serve over rice.

This was an excellent dinner, and as I said, it worked with or without the rice. It did make quite a lot, but it kept pretty well in the fridge for about a week. You do need to mix up the soup before re-serving and heating.