food for the soul (ailing)

Tonight, we are ill.  For once, 'we' does not refer to the gracious majesty of yours truly, but instead, to both Heroic Knight and myself.

It seems we are stricken with various strains of Miserable.  H.K. is suffering from what I am convinced is a sinus infection that has gone untreated and is now chronic and may require surgery (I like to fret in long term portions).  I have some combination of sinus mystery and Confused Throughput, both of which have me in a mess of tired.  I take a sick pleasure in H.K.'s being more ill than I am -- this is a man who gets sick perhaps once every few years -- as it means that I, The Stronger, get to take care of him.  

Thus, I made our trusty favorite, coconut lemongrass chicken soup tonight.  I have mentioned this dish once in passing, but never expatiated on its awesomeness.  I originally happened upon this soup with my Lovely Lymey Lizzy in Zao's Noodle Bar.  It was addictive, and craved on a weekly basis.  It was decided that, since H.K. and I are poor (read: I am poor), we would have to figure out how to make it ourselves.  

Our first attempt (read: my first attempt) was interesting but lacking that distinguishing Thai pazazz.  H.K. then fixed the problem by hunting for an actual recipe -- cough.. cheater.. cough.. hack... gargle.  I made it tonight for our ailing hero as he lay helpless on the couch with his DSLR in hand learning how to shoot a time-lapse of our flowers opening and closing with day and night.

Methods

1.  bring 1 quart chicken broth to a boil

2.  cut chicken strips

3.  toss chicken strips into boiling broth and set at medium heat

4.  add 2 1/3 tbsp fish juice (not fish oil or fish chips)

5.  add roughly 2 tbsp of lime juice, a handful of lemon grass stems, and let simmer

6.  meanwhile, peel/julienne carrot strips

7.  wash and strip fresh cilantro leaves (unless you hate them, in which case, use basil)

8.  find some form of soba or ramen noodle

9.  when chicken has simmered in broth for 5 min, add ramen/soba

10.  when ramen/soba is soft, add carrot strips and 2 cans of coconut milk

11.  simmer for 2 min before serving

 12.  garnish with cilantro (or basil; i like to add cayenne pepper, because i like cayenne pepper with everything)
* taste test approved by Lovely Lymey Lizzy