Khao thom gets a loving tribute in Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon’s forthcoming cookbook, ‘Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen’
The concept of Thai breakfast is that there is no strict concept of Thai breakfast. You’re just as likely to find a puffy Thai-style omelet at the breakfast table in a Thai home as you are fermented vermicelli noodles ladled with spicy fish curry or grilled pork alongside a bamboo basket of sticky rice.
“In Thailand, especially in the south, we eat full meals for breakfast,” explains Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon, the 2023 James Beard award-winning chef and founder of Philadelphia’s Kalaya and the author of the forthcoming cookbook, Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen. “People work on the farm or rubber plantations and they need something substantial.”
Although breakfast and brunch are not served at Kalaya, Suntaranon was unwavering in her desire to include a breakfast chapter in her cookbook. In her hometown of Trang, just southeast of Krabi, breakfast is everything. “Life in the south starts early,” Suntaranon says. “We start serving breakfast at 2 a.m. when the fishermen return or people come to the market to set up their stalls. By 4 a.m., everything is sold out.”
Khao thom, or rice soup, is often categorized as breakfast, but it’s really an all-day affair. You can have plain khao thom in the morning with side dishes that include pickled mustard greens and sweetened Chinese sausage, or, in Suntaranon’s cookbook, serve khao thom that’s already simmered with the briny flavors of fish and shrimp. It’s also a popular dish to cure a hangover, common cold, or sop up the end of a night of drinking — especially when served with fried crullers known as pa thong ko.
“Khao thom is Thai comfort food,” Suntaranon explains, reminiscing about how her own mother would make her weekly bowls of porridge growing up. She and her siblings would each get to request a side dish and feast on the spread of porridge and small plates her mom would prepare. “It’s a vessel that can be paired with anything — mushrooms, fermented tofu, chicken, shrimp,” Suntaranon says. “Everything tastes good with khao thom.” Because Trang is a coastal town and Southern Thailand is known for its seafood, Suntaranon wanted her book’s khao thom recipe to highlight the region’s bounty of fish and shrimp.
“For people in Thailand, every meal, including breakfast, is about family,” Suntaranon says. “We don’t just grab a piece of toast and run out the door.” And what better way is there to connect with family than gathering around a giant pot of bubbling rice porridge?
Khao Tom Pla (Rice Soup with Fish & Shrimp) Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the soup:
1 pound red snapper, monkfish, halibut, or swordfish filets, skinned
4 cups chicken broth
1½ cups jasmine rice
1 tablespoon kosher salt, or to taste
4 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
For serving:
Garlic oil
Thinly sliced scallions
Chopped fresh cilantro
4 soft-poached eggs
2 tablespoons thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger
1 stalk Chinese celery, or 1 small regular celery stalk with leaves, very thinly sliced
Ground white pepper
Soy sauce
Chile and Vinegar Relish
Instructions:
Step 1: Slice the fish on an angle into 4-inch-long strips.
Step 2: In a medium saucepan, combine the chicken broth and rice and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice grains are soft but intact, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the salt; if your broth is salty to begin with, just add a little and taste first. Drain the rice in a fine-mesh sieve set over a heatproof bowl, reserving the broth. Divide the rice among four bowls.
Step 3: Return the cooking liquid to the saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Add the fish and shrimp and cook just until the fish and shrimp are firm and opaque, about 3 minutes.
Step 4: To serve: Use a slotted spoon to divide the fish and shrimp equally among the individual bowls. Ladle the broth over top, drizzle each bowl with a little garlic oil, and sprinkle with scallions and cilantro. Add a poached egg to each bowl. Top with the fresh ginger and celery and a pinch of white pepper. Serve with soy sauce and prik dong for extra seasoning.
Prik Dong (Chile & Vinegar Relish) Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup distilled white vinegar
½ cup thinly sliced red long hot chiles or jalapeños (add a few slices of ghost pepper or habanero if you like it extra spicy)
2 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions:
Step 1: Pour the vinegar into a glass jar or other airtight container, add the chiles and salt, and stir well. Let sit at room temperature or in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving. The condiment will be freshest kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Fried Garlic & Garlic Oil Recipe
Ingredients:
½ cup vegetable oil
7 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced, or ¼ cup finely chopped garlic (about 10 cloves)
Instructions:
Step 1: Line a plate with paper towels and place it within arm’s reach of the stove. Pour the vegetable oil into a small saucepan and place it over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook. The garlic will sizzle and eventually change color; this will take 2 to 5 minutes, depending on how small the garlic is cut. Stir frequently. When most of the slices are just light golden brown, turn off the heat and stir the garlic vigorously until all the bits are evenly browned. Be careful because it can burn easily; you don’t want it to turn dark brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the garlic to the paper towels. Use the fried garlic immediately or store in an airtight container. Reserve the garlic oil in a small jar in the fridge for future use. Both will keep a long time, but you will eat them before they go stale.
From Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen. Copyright © 2024 by Chutatip Suntaranon. Photographs copyright © 2024 by Michael Persico. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group.
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