My Thai - Soup and Salad

Entertain a crowd with fresh and scintillating flavours. This is a really flavoursome way to get used to using your Varoma.

I love the way the Thermomix is cooking the soup and chicken which leaves you the perfect amount of time to get the fresh salad ingredients ready. Thai food is about a little conclave of chatting folks picking their way through the mountains of herbs. It's meant to take a little time...you get to chat and have your fill of beautiful aromas.

The marinade and dressing recipe is here on my blog:

QUICK THAI SOUP:

Ingredients:

Aromatics:

2 clove of garlic

3 cm piece of ginger

2 chillies

2-3 lemongrass bases (white part only)

2 coriander roots
4 kaffir lime leaves

pinch of cumin and coriander optional

30g light oil

Soup ingredients:

400g mix of vegetables for soup – sweet potato, tomato, zucchini roughly chopped

1 tablespoon of vegetable stock concentrate

400g tin of coconut milk

300g water

or 300g chicken stock to replace vegetable stock and water

DO:

Put all aromatics in TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds speed 9. Scrape down, add oil and sauté for 3 minutes, varoma temperature speed 2.

Add all soup vegetables and chop for 5 seconds speed 6.

Add coconut milk, stock, and water. Set for 20 minutes, varoma temperature speed 2.5. Puree at end for 45 seconds speed 9.

STEAMED CHICKEN, VEGETABLE and NOODLE SALAD.

NEED:

2 chicken breasts cut into 3 strips and marinaded in Thai marinade

1 packet of narrow rice noodles

2 carrots – peeled into strips

handful of beans trimmed and cut in half

Salad:

Peeled cucumber

2 handful of bean shoots washed and deheaded.

Bunch of mint leaves washed and dried

Bunch of coriander leaves washed and dried

Can add cherry tomatoes

Optional handful of thai basil leaves washed and dried

Optional shredded wombok cabbage

Optional fried shallots for garnish

Optional toasted peanuts for garnish

DO:

Cover noodles with warm (NOT HOT) water and leave to soak.

Arrange chicken pieces in the top of the varoma on baking paper. (Below is pictured when the paper has been pulled away to allow juices to fall through onto carrot and noodles)

Set TM to cook for 22 minutes Varoma temperature speed 2.

When time has finished, drain noodles. Place noodles and peel carrots into bowl level of Varoma.

Place top shelf with chicken back on top. Slide out the baking paper allowing the juices to fall through onto the noodles and carrots below.

Test the chicken with a knife to see if juices running are pink or clear. Move around the pieces to ensure best cooking of thickest parts.

Set TM to 2 minutes, Varoma temperature speed 2.

Meanwhile, place all salad ingredients into bowl – but reserve garnishes. 

I like to stand with my friends picking herb leaves into a big salad spinner, adding the bean shoots before washing and spinning.

When finished, tip carrots and noodles into salad bowl and lightly toss with half the salad dressing.

Puree soup in TM bowl and set aside (or tip out cooking water).

Place chicken pieces into TM bowl and shred for 6 seconds, REVERSE speed 4.

Toss through salad with more dressing, then garnish salad.