Thai Coconut Soup:
2 cups Soup Base, recipe follows
1 cup coconut milk
6 Kaffir lime leaves
Salt and pepper
Lime juice, to taste
About 1 tablespoon palm sugar, to taste
Sugarcane Chicken Dumplings, recipe follows
Garnish:
1 ounce glass noodles, soaked in water until softened
1/4 cup carrots, cut into julienne
1/4 cup leeks, cut into julienne
4 Thai chiles, stems removed, split in half lengthwise, seeded
4 Kaffir lime leaves, cut in a thin chiffonade
To the soup base, add the coconut milk and lime leaves. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, lime juice and sugar. Add the dumplings and simmer until done, about 3 minutes.
Divide the softened glass noodles on four soup bowls. Place two dumplings crisscross on top of the noodles, leaning to the side of the bowl. Divide the soup onto the four bowls. Garnish each bowl with julienne of carrots, leeks, Thai chiles and lime leaf. Serve immediately.
Soup Base:
2 1/2 cups lobster stock
1 tablespoon chili paste
1 lemon grass, cut into 2 inch sticks
10 fresh Thai basil leaves
1 Thai bird chile
In a saucepan, combine the lobster stock, chili paste, lemon grass, Thai basil leaves and Thai bird chile and bring to a boil. Reduce until only 2 cups remain.
Sugarcane Chicken Dumplings:
4 ounces ground lean chicken
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon mushroom soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons potato starch
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
8 (4-inch) sugarcane sticks
In a mixing bowl, combine the ground chicken, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce, potato starch and black pepper. Mix until well blended. Divide into 8 portions. Wrap each portion around the end of each sugarcane stick. Reserve
