Hey guys! You read correctly, grilled soup 
Since the power went out a couple days ago and I was stuck grilling dinner, I've rediscovered my love for the grill and plan to introduce it to more and more of my favorite recipes. Here's a brief instructional on one of my fortuitous discoveries: Grilled Tom Kah Gai! I'm a white American, who likes many different culture's foods, so if you are a purist, you've come to the wrong place! 
Ingredients: -About 1 lb chicken breast. (or your meat/cut of preference. The leaner and more tender, the better) -1 shallot (I also added half a red onion in the pics, but it ended up being a lot) -Half a pound of sweet peppers (yellow, red, and -orange bells would work great too) -1-4 Thai chilies (I used some dehydrated jalapenos in the pics). -Two or more stalks of lemongrass (peel outer layer, cut off bulb, and use white/yellow part) -A bunch of Basil -2 large Kaffir Lime leaves -about a 1.5"x 1.5" cube of Galangal -1.5 tomatoes (heirloom or romas are my favorite) -About a quarter lb of your favorite mushroom. Oysters looked appealing to me for some reason. -4 cups chicken broth -2 cups coconut milk -Juice and zest from half a lime I forgot to purchase cilantro, so I used a little dehydrated bit that I don't show in the pictures.



Procedure The first thing you want to do, is get the meat marinating and the broth simmering with aromatics. For the meat, I just used a little mirin (sweet sake), soy sauce, smoked paprika, and peri peri spice mix. You could just use a little salt, pepper, and beer or something, if you wanted. It's best to let it marinate for a couple hours, but I was hungry and did about 1 hour.

You'll want to get the broth going at least an hour ahead of time. the more time the better, though. Cut the lemongrass into large chunks, halve them, then either bruise, or lightly score the interior to expose more flavor to the broth. Peel and chop the galangal into a handful of large chunks (this isn't a science). Bruise or lightly score the two large kaffir lime leaves. I also added a good spoonful of minced garlic, as I am an addict  A small bunch of minced basil is mandatory, however. I also added dried cilantro here, but fresh is great. At this point, it's totally OK to get a little stalk in there, too. We're going to strain it all later. Add your spicy pepper of choice here as well. Finally, add the lime zest.
Bring it all to a boil, then simmer (on about medium-low) for about an hour. Add a little water as it reduces, but you'll taste where you like it.

Now for the grill! the lower the heat you can go, the better. My grill only seems to work on full blast, so I blackened the hell out of my peppers, chicken, and shallot (and onion) and had to pick off a lot of black... It was super delicious this way though!!! slightly blackened will provide great contrast with the sweetness of the soup itself.

Once all the ingredients are prepared, it's time for the crescendo! Strain your broth (unless you want to eat your soup like lucky charms)

Add the chicken, and let everything simmer for another 5-10 minutes (just getting more chicken flavor into the broth and broth flavor into the chicken). Add the Shallot, peppers, and more chopped basil (about 10-15 leaves). If I had cilantro, this is where I'd add about a metric shit-ton. Add the mushrooms, tomato, and coconut milk now, then simmer for about 5 minutes. You want the latter ingredients to be slightly cooked, but still fairly fresh and raw in flavor/texture (al-dente). DO NOT LET THE COCONUT MILK BOIL. If it gets too hot, the soup will be far more prone to separation.
That's it! Squeeze the lime into the pot, bowl and serve! I had it with some Sake I found on a bench at my local bus station.

I've been pretty lenient on cooking times and temps because you can make a quick soup and it'll a be fresher/crisper, or you can make a low/slow soup, which has deeper and more pronounced flavors and both are equally delicious! If you do the latter, I'd add another cup of chicken broth and half a cup of coconut milk, since the amounts of herbal material is a LOT and more meant for an hour in the kitchen. It all depends on the time you have and personal preference.
If you have any questions for substitutions, post away! It won't be the same, but we can still get you a localized spin on Tom Kah!
What'y'all think?!
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Edited by Giftofdeprivation (09/01/15 04:47 PM)
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