If you love tom yum soup then you’ll love its smoky sister, tom kloang. It uses the same trinity of herbs: lemongrass, makrut lime leaves, and galangal and has that hot and sour flavour profile. But tom kloang introduces an element of smokiness, traditionally from smoked dried fish. In Canada, I substitute the fish with Japanese bonito flakes which works extremely well.
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For this recipe I used leftover turkey because this is a great way to Thai-up your leftover meats, whether it's your Thanksgiving turkey or weeknight rotisserie chicken. But you can of course start with raw meat or seafood as well. It's healthy, spicy and flavourful, a completely different experience from a holiday meal!
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Tom Kloang - Smokey Leftover Turkey Soup
- Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
- 3 heads shallot, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
- 5-8 dried chilies, to taste
- 3 cups chicken stock, unsalted
- 2 stalks lemongrass (bottom half only), smashed and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 10 slices galangal
- 5 kaffir lime leaves
- 5 g. bonito flakes
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp tamarind juice
- 2 cups leftover cooked turkey or chicken (see note), torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup oyster or straw mushrooms, or other mushrooms of your choice, bite-sized pieces
- 1-2 tablespoon lime juice
- Chopped cilantro for garnish
Note: You don't need to have leftover meat for this! You can simply use raw chicken, or if you want to achieve the rustic hand-torn-meat look like in the video, simply poach a whole piece of chicken breast right in the stock (add the fish sauce to the stock before poaching the chicken so the chicken is flavourful). Remove the chicken, tear into pieces, then add them back into the soup as per the instructions.
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Instructions
To toast dried chilies: Place the chilies on a baking sheet and broil them on low, 6 inches away from the elements, until they develop charred spots (watch them and don't go anywhere, this happens very quickly!). Alternatively, place the dried chilies into a dry wok or sauteé pan and toast over medium heat, stirring constantly, until they are charred and crispy.
To char shallots: Place the shallots, cut side up, on top of a foil-lined baking sheet and broil them on high on the top rack until the edges are charred. Alternatively, place them on a grill, cut side down, until charred.
Add chicken stock to a pot and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Add shallots and dried chilies (if you want your soup to be spicy, break the chilies up, the more you break the spicy the soup becomes). Lower the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes or until the shallots are softened.
Add lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves and bonito flakes and simmer for 3 minutes.
Add fish sauce, tamarind juice, cooked chicken or turkey, and mushrooms; bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Add lime juice, taste and adjust seasoning with more lime and/or fish sauce as needed. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro right before serving.
Rachael says
I’m in Thailand! What kind of fish can I use?
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Great! The fish is called "pla yaang rom kwan" literally "grilled smoked fish". It's a very specific kind of fish that gets this treatment and I'm not sure of the name in English, and you'd need to get this at a fresh market I think, not supermarket.
Rachael says
Great! Thanks! 🙂