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The tom kha soup framework

The tom kha soup framework

Weeknight healthy meals, shrimp scampi, and whipped coffee

Ethan Chlebowski & Keith McBrayer
January 15, 2023

Happy Sunday!

Our goal is to get your cooking juices flowing and inspire you to try new meals. Reply to let us know if there are any specific dishes or cuisines you want the newsletter to cover in the future.

As always, a full grocery shopping list in Notion is linked at the end of this email.

In This Week’s Edition

Try Something New 🤯 — Tom Kha Soup

Throwback Time 🍳 — Three Healthy Weeknight Meals

The Leftover Shelf 🥡 — Shrimp Scampi

Extra Helpings 🤤 — Is whipped coffee still relevant?

Shopping List ✅ — Ingredients sorted into categories for easy shopping!

Try Something New 🤯

The best thing I ate this week. And, this is a great dish to start understanding Thai flavor profiles and ingredients.

Tom Kha Soup

Thai food often relies on balancing sour, sweet, salty, and bitter elements. This soup will showcase all of those flavors in a funky, savory, and mind-blowing way. It seems more intimidating than it actually is to cook — it’s more than worth the effort to make it at home this week!

Aromatic Base Broth Components

3 cups (700 ml) homemade or store-bought chicken broth
1/2 cup (40 g) galangal, or ginger,* peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup (40 g) lemongrass, about 2 stalks, bottom 4-6 inches only, outer leaves discarded, tender core cut on a bias into 2-inch lengths
3-5 Thai chilis, stemmed and roughly chopped (deseed if you’re sensitive to heat)

Soup Components

1 lb (450 g) boneless skinless chicken thighs, thinly sliced
1/2 lb (225 g) lb mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 cup (240 ml) coconut milk
1/4 cup (60 ml) fish sauce
~1/4 cup (60 ml or to taste) lime juice, fresh squeezed

Toppings, to preference

Lime wedges
Cilantro

*Galangal is the signature flavor of the broth. If you can’t find any (check an Asian or International Supermarket), ginger will work it will just be different. If you can find Makrut lime leaves, 5-10 of those would be traditional in the broth as well.

Instructions

Make the aromatic broth: In a large pot, add all Aromatic Base Broth Components and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes to infuse aromatics into the broth.

Simmer the chicken & mushrooms: Add the chicken and mushrooms to the broth and simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Finish the soup: Add in the coconut milk and fish sauce and simmer for 1 more minute, then turn off heat. Taste and slowly add in lime juice, to taste, for acidity. If the soup needs more salt, add in additional fish sauce.

Garnish & serve: You can fish out the aromatics, or just and eat around them. The galangal and chilis slices are edible, but the lemongrass will be tough and fibrous. Serve in bowls and optionally garnish with chopped cilantro and more lime wedges.

Throwback Time 🍳

Is anyone else missing the warmth of summer? Just because it may not be sunny outside doesn’t mean you can’t be eating bright, vibrant meals. Here’s a throwback to three fresh, protein-dense meals we were crushing this summer.

Whether you make the shrimp tacos, chili oil beef noodles, or grilled vegetable and chicken bowls with herb sauce (recipes linked), the video covers how to make each of these in 10-30 mins on a weeknight.

We highly recommend at least making the shrimp tacos. They’re the quickest meal of the bunch (8 minutes…), and if you make a big batch of shrimp, you can use any leftovers for so many other dishes, like in this week’s Scampi pasta as showcased below.

The Leftover Shelf 🥡

Leftovers are back in style…if you know how to use them.

This week’s move:

Leftover Shrimp → Shrimp Scampi Spaghetti

A box of pasta and a few pantry staples can stretch those leftover shrimp into a filling meal.

Components

Leftover shrimp (ideally 1/2lb-1 lb (225-450 g), but any substantial amount in the pasta will do!)
1 lb (450 g) box of dried spaghetti
2 tbsp (30 g) olive oil
8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tsp (5 g) red pepper flakes
2 tbsp (30 g) unsalted butter
1/4 cup (15 g) fresh chopped parsley, to taste
1 lemon, for zesting, making lemon wedge garnishes, and a juice squeeze to taste
Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste

To make:

Boil the pasta: Boil the pasta according to package directions in a pot of salted water. While the pasta boils start the rest of the cooking.

Start the aromatic base: In a large, wide sauté pan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and fry until aromatic and lightly browned. Reduce heat to low and add the leftover shrimp to warm through.

Combine ingredients & serve: With tongs, transfer the cooked spaghetti to the pan (some pasta water is good!). Using a Microplane, zest about a quarter of the lemon skin over the pasta. Add in a squeeze of lemon juice along with the butter and parsley and toss until the sauce is emulsified and the pasta is well coated. Add a splash more pasta water if necessary, and adjust the seasoning with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve warm with more parsley and lemon wedges.

Extra Helpings 🤤

🚀 Viral Eats

Cooking trends explained.

Q: Dalgona whipped coffee? Why not just drink normal drip?

A: There are a few things that remind us of the beginning of the pandemic: Tiger King, toilet paper shortages, and mostly: whipped dalgona coffee. (The name is derived from the coffee’s resemblance in taste and appearance to dalgona, a Korean sugar candy.)

This take on getting caffeinated is both aesthetically and texturally pleasing and got wildly popular in 2020. The hashtag #dalgonacoffee racked up an astounding 712.1 million videos.

Here’s why:

The ingredients were easily accessible during lockdown, making this combination of instant coffee grounds, sugar, and something that everyone could easily try.

The novelty of the drink came at a time when many people were isolated and seeking something fun to try, as well as something to connect over with others on social media.

Is dalgona whipped coffee still worth making now that we’re not stuck at home? Because the whisking process can take up to 20 minutes by hand, maybe not. If you have an electric frother or choose to spend an afternoon whipping a stiff foam of water, sugar, and instant coffee, enjoy over a glass of ice and milk of choice.

🧠 Reader Q&A

Q: Do you think someone who starts cooking should learn ‘the basics’ first? Or just start cooking things that sound fun and interesting, and learn as you go? - Cooper Lewis

A: We always recommend people just dive in and start cooking meals that are exciting to them. You’ll learn the basics as a byproduct of cooking almost any recipe, and any cuisine for that matter.

The issue with telling people they must learn the basics before experimenting is that cooking then becomes a chore or a set of drills. If you’re excited about cooking a certain dish or cuisine — go for it! Always capitalize on passion and excitement, and the nuts and bolts of cooking techniques will come later.

If you’re a beginner looking for a few starting points to your cooking journey, check out the following videos:

Beginners Guide to Stocking a Pantry

Beginners Guide to Cooking w/ Spices

Why You Should Learn to Salt by Taste

The Best Alternative to Meal Prepping (Braising)