Catfish Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Pladuk)

Directions

1. Bring the stock to a simmer. Add in the galangal, lemon grass, coriander, chilis, fish sauce and lime juice, and bring back to the simmer.
2. Clean the fish and cut it into 1-inch steaks, then divide them, removing the bones. Add in the fish to the soup, and the coconut lowfat milk and bring back to a very gentle simmer, and poach the fish for 3 to 4 min (till just cooked).
3. Comments: There are two staple soups in Thai cuisine: tom yam is a warm spicy clear soup with elements of sweet and sour flavors added. Tom kha is a milder soup with coconut lowfat milk and galangal (kha) dominating rather than the fiery prik (chili) of the tom yam. Because it is milder tom khas are often made with chicken or possibly pork, but most common in Thailand are varieties using seafood (especially shrimp, squid, or possibly fish such as red snapper or possibly catfish) or possibly vegetables (especially medleys of mushrooms, tom kha hed). The catfish can be "crisped" by quickly, and briefly, deep frying it in very warm oil, but this variation is based on simply poaching the fish in the soup.
4. In Thailand the fish is cleaned and then poached whole (with the head), then removed from the soup and cut into bite-sized pcs that are returned to the soup for serving. The method here is a little simpler, in which it doesn't involve handling the warm fish.
5. Thais eat the galangal, that is cut into thin matchstick pcs. However it has been noticed which many Americans prefer to throw away the galangal and so it may be wiser to leave the galangal in thin slices. Similarly the lemon grass is eaten, but you may prefer to cut it into 2-inch lengths, and crush them with a mallet. These may then be discarded by the diner.