Thai Chicken Soup

This recipe is adapted from Cook's illustrated magazine:

1 tsp. vegtable oil.
3 lemon grass stalks (bottom 5 inches sliced)
3 shallots
8 sprigs cilantro - chopped
3 tablespoons fish sauce
4 c chicken stock
2 cans coconut milk
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 lb. white mushrooms, stemmed, and sliced in 1/4" slices
1 lb. boneless chicken breast - thinly sliced
3 tbsp. fresh lime juice (2 or 3 limes)
2 tsp. thai red curry paste
cooked white rice

Method:

Heat the oil in a saucepan until it shimmers. Add lemon grass, shallots, cilantro, and 1 T fish sauce, stirring frequently until softened;
Add chicken broth and 1 can of coconut milk, bring to a simmer and reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes;

While the broth simmers, combine lime juice, curry paste, remaining fish sauce, and 1/2 tsp sugar in a small bowl. Whisk together and set aside

strain broth, rinse saucepan, and return broth to saucepan;
Add remaining can of coconut milk to saucepan and bring to a simmer;
reduce heat to medium, add mushrooms and cook for 2 or 3 minutes
add chicken and cook, stirring just until no longer pink -

remove the soup from the heat - stir in the lime juice / fish sauce mixture

To serve:

Fill a small bowl with cooked rice - pack it down and flatten the top. Invert the bowl in the middle of a larger soup bowl so it is like an island- (repeat for each bowl)

Ladle the soup - fill the ladle with chicken and mushrooms - in the soup bowl around the rice - make sure the chicken and mushrooms are evenly distributed. Ladle in liquid soup to the level of the chicken and mushrooms.
Garnish with cilantro and perhaps some sliced red chili pepper - on top of the rice "island"

Yum!!!!