Tom Kha Gai Soup

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1 Tin Coconut Milk
• 2 Salmon Fillets or Chicken Breasts – both diced
• 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
• 6 Lime Leaves
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 2 Sticks Lemongrass, (peel outer sheath and chop them into 3)
• 6 Slices Galangal Root
• 6 regular sized button/white mushrooms, halved (or 12 mini button mushrooms)
• A dozen or so cherry tomatoes (kept whole)
• 1 red chilli, sliced.
• Fresh Coriander (cilantro) chopped 2/3 tablespoons

Please note* If you are reading this from Korea, I obtained the coconut milk, lemongrass, fish sauce, coriander & galangal root  from Itaewon’s Foreign Food Market and  the lime leaves were from High Street Store. 

Method

1. Empty the tin of coconut milk into a medium sized saucepan.
2. Add 3/4 tin of water.
3. Add 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce, Lime Leaves, Lemongrass, Galangal Root and Mushrooms.
4. Bring the contents to the boil.
5. Add the Salmon/Chicken (chicken will take longer) – continue to boil until it is cooked (a couple of minutes).
6. Reduce the heat and add the chilli, tomatoes.
7. Simmer for 5/10 minutes, the longer it simmers, the spicier the soup will get.
8. Finally, stir in the lime juice and sprinkle the coriander generously over the top.

*This is nice with pumpkin seed bread (freshly baked) or by itself as it is quite filling.

Taco Chilli Chilli

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon with the girls browsing the markets in Dongdaemun and we needed a quick fix.  Apart from street food in this area, restaurants appear to be the standard small Korean ones that don’t have huge variation and we were looking for something more western.

Taco Chilli Chilli is located in a central spot in Dongdaemun. On the exterior, apart from the name it looks like one of the traditional looking Korean tented buildings for cheap eats. However as soon as you walk in, the smell of fresh Mexican food invades your nostrils.

It’s a simple menu, burritos, enchiladas and nachos. I opted for the chicken burrito. It was cheap and tasty and even had some fresh coriander (something that is hard to come by here when outside Itaewon).

I recommend this place for a quick bite when you’re not stopping for long. It has no atmosphere and certainly isn’t a place to sit in all evening. However, it is tasty and for a Korean Mexican eatery, it hit the spot.

Getting There: 

Take the subway to Dongdaemun Station. Take exit 6 or 7 (7 is closest, but the station can be a little confusing). Walk straight until you cross the river (1 -2 minutes through a market area). Once you cross the river, cross the road and it’s pretty much right in front of you. (Red frontage and the name is above it).