There was a good looking girl. And when I say good looking girl, I mean she was a GREAT looking girl. Damn hot. She had looks and she knew how to use them. You know the type of girl, eh? And she loved guns. A damn good looking girl who loves guns, and… puts out. Yep. Conforms to your dirtiest of needs. And did I mention she likes to shoot guns? Yep. But the weird thing is (apart from this whole speil), she’ll only fire a weapon underground. In the sewer n shite. Weird… her name is… Galangal

Galangal is a rhizome, a striking root that shoots underground (yeah, that’s right. A striking root that shoots underground. How cool is that?), just like ginger or tumeric. If you can’t find fresh galangal you should try harder. Someone will get it for you. It’s worth the effort.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP with prawns and stuff (for 4)

1lt chicken stock

500ml tamarind water

1 thumb sized knob of galangal, sliced into 5-6 pieces

1 stalk lemongrass, bruised in a bar fight

2-3 long red chillis, deseed, slice

1-2 scud or birds eye chillis if you want to spice it up a bit

5 kaffir lime leaf*

¼ lemon, diced small, flesh and peel and all

3-4 tbls fish sauce

16 king prawns, peel and de-vein, keep heads

2-3 bunches asian greens, chopped, dredged in cold water to remove grit

1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved

4-5 fresh shitake mushrooms**, quartered through the middle

2 shallots, sliced

2 limes

• Make a broth with the chicken stock, tamarind water, galangal, lemongrass, chilli, kaffir leaf and prawn heads. Simmer for 10-15 minutes
• Strain it if you would like to be refined or don’t if you don’t want to I guess
• Put back onto a heat and add all other ingredients except shallots and lime juice. Simmer 5 minutes
• Check seasoning. Add a little more fish sauce if needed. It should be hot and sour and a little bit salty… and really tasty
• Add the shallots and lime juice for that final I’m-sexy-and-I-know-it goodness

*kaffir lime leaf. Essential in Thai cooking. If you can’t find these you should stop this recipe now.

**shitake mushrooms. You can find them. Someone will get them for you. Let’s not go through this again