NEW FAVORITE MEAL ALERT!
This meal is really ALL about the soup. It’s as close as you can get to a traditional Thai Tom-Ka soup without having to order it from your favorite Thai restaurant. So at a minimum, make the soup and add whatever you want to it – meatballs, shrimp, fish, chicken…whatever suits your fancy! BUT if you choose the meatballs as per the recipe, you WON’T be disappointed as they are moist and FULL of flavor.
Vegans! You could make this with tempeh and still get all the flavor and fullness this dish has to offer. Remember to choose tempeh over tofu as tempeh is fermented. Tofu is NOT fermented and is quite inflammatory in nature. And just swap chicken broth for veggie broth. Boom 🙂
INGREDIENTS
NB: Try to source organic wherever possible!
Meatballs:
- 2 packs of ground chicken or turkey (thighs are best), around 0.4 – 0.5 kg each
- 1 pack ground pork (0.4 – 0.5 kg)
- minced garlic and ginger (I like to say to measure these ingredients “with your soul” but I would suggest 1 heaping tbsp of ginger and 2 tbsp of ginger)
- 1-2 tsp of kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
- finely chopped jalapeno (again, measure with your soul; omit if you don’t like spice)
- and if you REALLY like spice, add 1-2 tbsp of Sambal Oelek; again omit if you don’t like spice
Soup:
- 2 tbsp EV olive oil
- 3 tbsp minced ginger
- 1-2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 heaping tbsp lemongrass paste (this is a tube that is usually found in the fridge section in the produce section where cold salad dressings and herbs are kept)
- 1 heaping tbsp red curry paste
- 4 cup organic chicken broth or chicken bone broth
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp coconut palm sugar or real maple syrup
- 3 cans coconut milk
- 1-2 handfuls of shitake mushrooms (sliced)
- 2-3 large handfuls of spinach
- garnish with lime juice and fresh chopped cilantro and spice of choice
DIRECTIONS
- start with the meatballs; combine all ingredients well with your hands
- make small balls – these meatballs are pretty sticky so just drizzle some olive oil on your hands when forming the balls (you might need to reapply the olive oil a few times)
- pan fry in olive oil and/or avocado oil; you want to brown on both sides but you don’t have to worry about cooking them all the way thru as they will finish cooking when you put them in the soup
- once browned, set aside
- now for the soup…
- in a large pot, saute the ginger and garlic for a minute or two in EV olive oil (careful to not have too high heat as the garlic will burn); then add the curry paste and lemon grass and saute another minute or two (you should have a thick paste in your pot)
- add a bit of chicken broth and mix the paste in well, then add remaining chicken broth
- add fish sauce, coconut palm sugar (or maple syrup), coconut aminos – let flavors meld together for a minute or two
- then add cans of coconut milk and mushrooms
- bring to a boil then simmer
- add spinach
- once spinach starts to wilt, add your meatballs and simmer for a few more minutes until fully cooked thru
- garnish with lime juice, cilantro and spice of choice
As always, don’t hesitate to email me with any questions. And please message or comment @karliskitch if you make this! Would love to know.
Karli 🙂