Home > Thai food recipes by their origin > Traditional Recipes > An Ancient Siamese Recipe for Tom Kha Pet (1890 AD) Duck Simmered in Light Coconut Cream and Young Galangal, and Served with Sour-Sweet Roasted Chili Jam(Tom Kha Bpet; ต้มข่าเป็ด จิ้มน้ำพริกเผาแบบโบราณ)
An Ancient Siamese Recipe for Tom Kha Pet (1890 AD) Duck Simmered in Light Coconut Cream and Young Galangal, and Served with Sour-Sweet Roasted Chili Jam (Tom Kha Bpet; ต้มข่าเป็ด จิ้มน้ำพริกเผาแบบโบราณ)
Tom kha is a well-known and much-loved Thai soup: a creamy, soothing coconut blend, a warm, silky broth in which chicken, mainly, is simmered with young galangal, mushrooms, and, at times, charred-grilled banana blossoms. In other versions, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves are added, blurring the boundaries between tom kha and the coconut-based tom yam soup (tom yum kati; ต้มยำกะทิ).
Both The Royal Institute Dictionary (พจนานุกรม ฉบับ ราชบัณฑิตยสถาน), which is the official and authoritative dictionary of the Thai language, and the popular Thai dictionary compiled by Prof. Pleung Na Nakorn (พจนานุกรม ฉบับ อ.เปลื้อง ณ นคร พิมพ์โดยสำนักพิมพ์ไทยวัฒนาพานิช), define tom kha as:
“Tom Kha – a spicy chicken-curry in coconut milk – a name of a type of soup, similar to coconut-based tom yam soup, usually using chicken with young galangal and seasoned with roasted chili jam, fish sauce, lime juice and fresh bird’s eye chilies.” (translated)
However, in the late 19th century, tom kha was not a soup at all: it was a dish of chicken or duck simmered in a light coconut broth with a generous amount of galangal. The coconut broth added sweetness to the meat, and the galangal helped to mellow the meat odor. It was then served with a basic roasted chili jam as a dipping relish seasoned along the sour-salty-sweet spectrum.
In 1890 (2433 BE, 109RE), Maawm Sohm Jeen (หม่อมซ่มจีน, ราชานุประพันธุ์) produced a cookbook under the title “Tam Raa Gap Khao (ตำรากับเข้า)”. Published by the Wacharin printing company (โรงพิมพ์วัชรินทร์), this somewhat obscure document – known to only a few people – was printed as Lady Plean’s recipes began appearing in the city magazine, “Bpradtithin Bat Laae Joht Maai Haeht (ประติทินบัตร แล จดหมายเหตุ)”, between 1889 and 1890.
Today we will reintroduce tom kha pet according to Maawm Sohm Jeen’s recipe (1890). In the Thai version we have preserved the old Thai language and we will try to retain the old Siamese tone in our English translation:
Tom kha pet nam phrik phao ; ต้มข่าเป็ด น้ำพริกเผา อย่างหม่อมซ่มจีน (ราชานุประพันธุ์)
English transcript: If duck chicken is cooked with galangal, take 1 duck and 1 coconut nut. If don’t have full coconut nut, one slice will be enough. Grate and squeeze diluted coconut cream. Estimate the amount to cover the duck or chicken pieces. Use young galangal weight of 10 baht (150gr), crush the galangal and put into the pot until boiling. Then add to the pot the chicken or duck in whole or in slices. Boil until the coconut renders the oil and the meat is very tender. Add salt weight of 1 saleung (3.75gr); it will help to push the fat away and dry the meat. Take roasted chili jam and dilute with fish sauce, lime juice and sugar until watery; take the galangal duck meat or galangal chicken meat and dip it in the chili jam. Very tasty eat.
This recipe is very easy to follow and, as you can see, the ancient Siamese loved to eat tom kha by dipping meat into the roasted chili paste. It is not even remotely close to the modern recipe.
Thaifoodmaster would like to put back into the records this ancient version of the familiar modern version as an act of preserving the Thai national treasures, especially as Thailand progresses into the ASEAN Economic Community.
Today’s tom yum goong soup recipe is a refreshing addition to the tom yum soup repertoire. The fried SaNoh Flower Cakes sensationally enhance the shrimp’s natural sweetness, while the flower’s bittersweet aftertaste is a superb tropical match to the citrusy and aromatic hot and sour tom yum goong soup.
Breaking news: The oldest Thai cookbook, as well as history’s first-ever recorded recipe for Phanaeng curry, are revealed for the first time on Thaifoodmaster.com – A 126-year-old cookbook written by one of Siam’s most revered singers, Maawm Sohm Jeen (Raa Chaa Noopraphan) (หม่อมซ่มจีน, ราชานุประพันธุ์), has been rediscovered, offering a unique glimpse into the culinary repertoire of 19th-century Siam. In this chapter we examine the different forms of phanaeng curry from the 1800s to the present day, as we reconstruct the 19th-century version and craft step-by-step a traditional beef phanaeng curry.
Gai dtai naam, which means “under water chicken” in Thai, consists of braised chicken in a coarse, aromatic paste made from lemongrass, galangal, garlic, chilies, kaffir lime leaves, holy basil, coriander and spring onions. In the home-cooked dish popular among the Thai working class, the entire chicken – including the bones – is chopped into bite-size pieces, and served with a bottle of rice wine accompanied by local country-style music (luktung) at high volume.
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Practical and kitchen-tested recipes with a mix of theory, history, psychology, and Siamese culture tidbits.
Access to Thaifoodmaster’s constantly growing library of prime professional classes, articles, recipes and videos on Siamese culinary topics, available nowhere else in English.
Gain access to NEW MONTHLY masterclasses as they become available.
1-1 support from Hanuman to help you achieve your professional Thai culinary goals
The opportunity to join a monthly live two-hour videoconference where I can answer your questions.
one year access for the price of 3 days in-person training.
You will get everything you need to:
When you design or build a new menu for an event or restaurant or even prepare for dinner with friends.
Finally !
Master your Thai cooking skills and expand your repertoire.