Chicken Lemongrass Soup

Ingredients

• 10 cups chicken stock
• 1 lb of uncooked chicken meat (I like to just throw in about 4 drumsticks or 2 leg and thighs cut up, Chicken should still be on bo)
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1-2 stalk lemongrass, cut into 2 inch pieces and bruised to give more flavor
• 4-5 fresh lime leaves, bruised to give more lime flavor
• 2 tablespoons tom yum paste
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 teaspoon chili flakes (more or less)

Directions

1. 1

   Boil the chicken stock in a large pot with the Tom-Yum Paste.

2. 2

   Add in the uncooked chicken and keep at a low boil till the chicken is cooked half through.

3. 3

   Bruise the lime leaves by rubbing them in your hand a bit to bruise them so they give off more flavor and aroma.

4. 4

   Bruise the lemongrass by hitting it with the flat side of a knife, as you would with garlic.

5. 5

   Throw the lime leaves and lemon grass into pot along with the fish sauce,lime juice, and chili flakes.

6. 6

   Cook on med-low for an hour- 45 min or as long as it takes the chicken to completly cook.

7. 7

   You can cook the chicken till its very tender and almost falls off the bone if you like --

8. 8

   Once ready serve hot, in a bowl with another bowl of rice.

9. 9

   *** ALL ingredients (lime juice, fish sauce, etc) can be increased or decreased to your liking -- I prefer this soup to be really sour, lemon/lime tasting and a bit spicy, while others may like more salty (add more fish sauce then) and sour flavor.