The rare and wonderful presence of galangal in the fridge governed the direction for dinner tonight; absent kaffir lime leaves, or even non-slimy cilantro, (shudder) this magical rhizome pulled the whole meal into Southeast Asian territory all by itself. The chicken carcass simmered with its gravy plus more water, ginger, galangal, and garlic. Minus the bones, and plus coconut milk and lime juice, it turned into a pretty good tom kha gai. (The preserved lemons did a good job of covering the lemongrass part.) Meanwhile, some TVP had been simmering with dried mushrooms until they were all soft. I added tamari, nam pla, rice vinegar, and ginger, plus flour to thicken, and tossed it all in the wok, followed by a bunch of soaked rice noodles with soy, vinegar, and sesame oil, and then a bunch of watercress with smashed garlic:
