Crockpot Cooking: Tom Kha Yum or Tom Kha Gai

Our apartment building does not have A/C. While LA summers are pretty mild, sometimes the temperatures can hit the 90's. Cooking during the summer without A/C is a challenge. Nobody likes sweating over a hot stove!

 One of the best tools for summer cooking is a crockpot. I have struggled for 5 years to find good crockpot recipes. Most of the recipes I try don't make it into our regular rotation, but every once in a while we find a recipe we love. The recipe I am sharing today is a soup so good, that we have even used it for dinner parties.

The crockpot I use is the Crockpot Programmable Cook and Carry 6 Quart Crockpot:

  

I love the programmable feature of this crockpot. I actually have the same crockpot in the 4 quart version because it is that useful! I highly recommend it!Of course I ALWAYS use crockpot liners, for easy cleanup. We don't have a dishwasher, so crockpot liners really save us time!

  

Cooking in the crockpot is also a great way to prepare meals when I am not feeling well enough to cook.  With just a little bit of prep, I can let the crockpot do the rest.

The recipe I am sharing is our crockpot version of my favorite Thai soup. We love to order it in those fancy hotpots with the flames coming out at our favorite local Thai place. The soup is rich, a little sweet, and a little spicy. We serve ours with sliced red jalapeno to spice things up even more. We prefer the recipe with Tofu, but I also have tips for altering the recipe if you want to use chicken thighs.

Tom Kha Yum Ingredients (makes about 8 servings)
3 14-oz. cans coconut milk (1 regular, 2 lite)
4 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
1 lb extra firm tofu, pressed, and cubed
1 large lemongrass stalk, chopped into 1-inch pieces or 1.25 oz lemongrass paste
2 Tbsp ginger, freshly grated
4 Tbsp fresh lime juice
4 tsp Thai red curry paste
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
4 oz Snap Peas
3-4 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
sliced red jalapeno to taste
salt to taste  

Direction
1. Place the coconut milk, vegetable broth, lemon grass, ginger, curry paste, soy sauce, brown sugar, and lime juice in the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or high for 3 to 4 hours.
2. Add the mushrooms, red bell pepper, snap peas and tofu during the last 20-30 minutes of cooking, and top with cilantro when serving.
3. You can also pan fry your tofu and add it before serving.   We prefer our tofu pan-fried as it prevents the mushy texture many people complain of, but it is not necessary to do so.

Tip: If you have never pressed tofu before, or don't own a tofu press, you can use the following method:  Wrap the tofu in 3 to 4 layers of paper towels and place on a clean flat surface.  Place a clean dish towel on top of the tofu.  Place a book on top of the dish towel, and allow the tofu to press for about 30 minutes. 

Tom Kha Gai Alternative: Instead of Tofu, use 1lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed in 1" pieces. Add the chicken during Step 1 and allow to simmer in the broth. Follow Step 2 as above. Chicken thighs work best, as compared to chicken breast because they will not dry out due to the higher fat content.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! I look forward to sharing more of my favorite crockpot recipes on the blog!