Trying Thai

It never occurred to me to attempt to cook Thai food...perhaps I was intimidated by the exotic complexity of the flavors.  While the ingredients are a bit exotic, the technique is not.  I surprised the merchant at P&P when I went today to get kaffir leaves and lemon grass.  He always asks what I'm cooking and speaks little English, so I quickly look it up on my phone and he nods approvingly - he said "you good cook" and then showed me some additional ingredients that I may consider once I perfect a basic menu. The aroma of the leaves was magnificent and I think this was the first time I've seen a complete stalk of lemon grass. 

My plan was to make thom kha seafood.  I suppose I should call it thom ginger seafood since I substituted for the galangal.  The key was finding a balance of flavors so I added a bit of this and a bit of that until I got the taste I was looking for.  I simmered the ginger, lemon grass, and kaffir leaves with a bit of sugar in broth then added the coconut milk, fish sauce, and lime - I almost started to panic because the taste was not quite right so I started making adjustments.  I dropped in the seafood mix (calamari, shrimp, scallops) and some sliced baby bellas and then decide to make fried rice using the sauce I had left over from the pad kee mao, broccoli slaw, and egg - of course I fried this in the chili oil. 

The soup was excellent and the rice is getting there.