travel the world in a soup bowl

once you can conceptualize that fat is the largest component of flavor transmission, along with the nose, we can start moving forward in our cooking concepts. pictured above is a thai dish that i love to make because it gets you balance flavors in a rich and varied style but with a basic substructure that works in a lot of cooking. to get the balance right here, you need to harmonize the acid (lime), salt, spice (chili peppers) and fat. yes, I've ignored sweet, but its in the coconut let's face it, we don't need anymore sugar in our diet! 

the vegetables vary in this based upon whim and seasonality, but i prefer veg that holds up well in soup i.e. peppers, onions, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, butternut squash, pumpkin etc. the base is a bone broth or stock, with garlic and ginger added and based upon availability lemongrass and thai chilis.(you can purchase ready made bases like thai red and green curry pastes) here I've added clams and mussels. ill add a can of coconut milk(full fat), towards the end and then start to balance the spice, saltiness and acid. 

the salmon is cooked separately, patted dry with paper towels and added to a very hot pan, with coconut oil. get familiar with watching fish go opaque as it cooks, you can see it creeping up to the middle of the fish as it cooks. it's important to have the fish and most meats at room temperature before cooking. 

i'll finish this dish with fresh coriander or whatever micro herbs i have around. remember to taste as you go and balance the flavors and salt all the way up into the moment you're serving.