7 Jun 2019

TOM YUM GOONG SOUP

Sunshine for the Soul a so good for you bowl of abundance.  This gorgeous broth is so easy to make, so flavourful and versatile you can use any vegetables or herbs to hand and below is one of my favourite variation, just have fun with your favourite greens.  Step this up to become a Laksa by adding coconut milk, noodles and maybe more lime juice or by adding peanut butter for a rich and creamy satay twist.

What's more once you have some bone broth stored in your fridge you can whip up this meal in five minutes or treat yourself to a mug of soul pleasing soup in the same time it takes to make a fresh cup of coffee.




Ingredients 
(serves 2)

1 ltr chicken stock, bone broth
(poached chicken bone broth recipe below)
1 tbsp tom yum or more to taste
(homemade recipe below)
1/2 lime juiced
1 tsp turmeric
200g left over poached chicken
2 spring onions
1 red chilli finely diced
3 tbsp chopped coriander
2 big handfuls spinach
1 bunch watercress
6 spears asparagus
1 bunch broccoli florets

Bring the stock to a gentle simmer and add all the ingredients, simmer for a couple of minutes so that the broccoli and asparagus are cooked, taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt if needed.  Enjoy.

My geeky science bit...

Bone Broth Nutrients 

Chicken bone stock is so good for you, the broth water has calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur, trace minerals, chodroitin sulphates and glucosamine, these latter two ingredients are expensive to buy as supplements, but they are found naturally in bone broths.  You need magnesium so your body and convert vitamin D into it's active form so that it can be used to absorb calcium.  We only need around 400mg of calcium a day, but the RDA says 1200mg, the reason for this is that we do not absorb all the calcium we eat, but if you have a balanced diet the extra calcium you absorb can lead to kidney stones and calcium in the blood stream and heart disease, chicken stock is anti viral, anti bacterial and scientifically proven to be 25% as effective as penicillin.

Asparagus vitamin B6, C, E, K, calcium, magnesium, zinc, beta carotene, iron, fibre, stimulates your kidneys, phosphorous, potassium, copper, thiamin, riboflavin, folic acid, selenium, chromium, enhances ability of insulin to transport to glucose from your blood cells to amino acids.

Garlic allicin and selenium, cleans the liver, King of healing foods, fights food poisoning, stomach bugs bacteria, anti bacterial, anti viral and anti fungal, reduces risks of clots and cholesterol blood pressure and improves circulation.

Chilli eaten in large quantities is high in vitamin C, carotene, vitamin B, B6, potassium, magnesium and iron.

Onion vitamin C, B6, folic acid, phenolic so flavonoids, anti inflammatory, lowers cholesterol and is an anti oxidant.

Watercress purifies blood, gives you iodine when eaten raw, vitamin A, anti bacterial mustard oils, betacarotenes, iron, phenethy, isothiocganate, vitamin C, E.

Celery has coumarins, potassium and vitamin C.

Carrots juiced are a detox cleaner for healthy liver and kidney functions, anti bacterial and anti viral, protect capillaries, chest, skin and eyes, vitamin C, E, A and B2.

Chicken Bone Broth
(makes 3 ltrs)

1 organic chicken
1 onion halved
3 carrots peeled
1 stick celery halved
2 leeks quartered
1 bulb garlic halved
1 tbsp sea salt
10 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3" piece of ginger bashed
1 stalk lemon grass bashed
1 lemon halved and squeezed

Place all the ingredients in a large stock pot and pour in around 4 litres of water to cover the chicken, bring to a gentle just simmer and leave to poach away for around 1.5 - 2 hours, take off the heat and leave the chicken to cool in the broth for an hour or so this allows the chicken meat to absorb some of the gorgeous cooking juices and makes the chicken the moistest you will have ever eaten.

Remove the chicken and stock vegetables from the poaching stock liquid, taste the stock and either season with more sea salt or reduce the volume down to intensify the flavour of the broth.  

Remove all the meat from the chicken and add back to the broth, pour the broth in to a large jug or one litre mason jars and store in the fridge ready to go when you need it.  This freezes really well at this stage too.

Tom Yum Sambal 
Fabulous vibrant zingy authentic fresh Thai tom yum paste, this is so good you will never buy a shop brought jar again I promise!  Fairly quick to make and considering most original families in South East Asia do make their pastes and sambal fresh every day may inspire you to do so too, having said that the quantity of this jar will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks if it lasts that long!  This is a staple in my family fridge.  Recipes: for Tom Yum Soup and Bone Broth below.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 5 minutes 


Ingredients
(makes 1 small jar / 10 portions)

50g dried chillies soaked in 200ml hot water
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 lime zested or 1 lime leaf finely chopped
1 lime juiced
3/4 tbsp coriander seeds ground
1 tbsp finely grated ginger
1 tsp finely grated galangal
1 stick lemon grass finely chopped
1 small red onion finely chopped
3/4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
3/4 tbsp coconut oil

Place all the ingredients except the coconut oil in your food processor and blitz to a paste, or finely chop by hand and leave at that or pound to a paste in a pestle and mortar.  Add the coconut oil to a pan and melt on a medium heat add the tom yum paste to your pan and cook for around five minutes until medium thick.  That's it! Now to store...

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