Hello! Today’s recipe is one of my favorite dishes. Not only because it’s quick and easy to make, but because it’s loaded with all my favorite fresh herbs – galangal, lemongrass and lime leaves!
A little about the main ingredients that give this dish an unusual oriental taste. In first place is galangal.

Galangal or Alpinia galanga

Galangal is a spice rich in vitamins and minerals, good for digestion, relieving heartburn, normalizing blood pressure and improving complexion. Regular consumption of galangal increases internal heat, awakening appetite and stimulating digestion, warming the stomach and blood.

The best analogue of galangal due to its close relationship, as well as a similar taste palette, is ginger. To compensate for the lack of pine or citrus flavor in ginger, you need to add a little lime zest to the dish.

Lemongrass

Lemongrass is a cereal plant native to India and Southeast Asia. Reaches one and a half meters in height, grows as a powerful bush and quickly depletes the soil.

Fresh stems and dried leaves are used in cooking. They contain a fragrant essential oil, have a fresh lemon aroma with light notes of almond and a bright citrus taste. A valuable and popular spice, it is used in soups and curries and goes well with rice, poultry, fish and seafood. Pairs well with other spices.

Cut the lemon grass crosswise into little finger-length pieces or thin rings or diagonally. Only the pinkish center is eaten raw. The thin elastic stem is used instead of a skewer for shrimp or seafood when grilling.

Lime leaves

Kaffir lime leaves are a popular spice in Thailand. They have an incredibly bright, slightly sweet, memorable aroma. Almost no traditional dish in Southeast Asia is complete without kaffir lime leaves, or “kaffir” lime as it is sometimes called.

The aromatic leaves of this plant are used in cooking in the same way as bay leaves. They are added to all kinds of soups, meat and fish dishes. To do this, the leaves are torn into pieces or cut into strips. Very often, kaffir lime leaves complement various sauces, especially often they are added to curry sauce. Thais often combine these leaves with garlic, galangal, ginger or chili pepper.

Palm sugar

Palm sugar, also known as jaggery, is a type of sugar that is extracted from the sap of palm trees. It has a long tradition in Asia and India – now it is used everywhere. It is less sweet than regular sugar and has a slightly caramel flavor.

Jaggery is made by boiling the collected sap until it thickens into jaggery. It can be consumed directly, similar to maple syrup.

Its composition is quite diverse, it includes glucose, pectin, zinc, potassium, phosphorus and vitamins. With the help of jaggery, diabetics can control their blood glucose levels.

Coconut soup with chicken and mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 500 ml coconut milk
• 500 ml chicken broth
• 5 cm fresh galangal or ginger
• 4 stalks lemongrass
• 2 fresh lime leaves
• 2 chicken breasts, diced
• 2 green chilies
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp palm sugar
• 4 small shallots
• 250 g mushrooms
• Cilantro
• Juice of 1/2 lime

Cooking method:

1. Wash the lemon grass, peel the light part from dry leaves, beat with a hammer and chop finely.
2. Fold the lime leaves in half, remove the vein and cut into very thin strips.
3. Peel the galangal and cut into large rings so that it is convenient to remove it at the end of cooking. If ginger is used, it can be cut into cubes and left in the soup.
4. Cut the chili in half, remove the seeds and chop finely, or alternatively, leave it whole.
5. Bring the coconut milk, chicken broth, galangal, lemon grass and lime leaves to a boil and cook for approx. 5 minutes.
6. Add chicken breasts, chili, fish sauce and sugar. Cook for 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat and add lime juice.
7. Serve with white rice. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Bon Appetit!