During this wet and cold season, I like curling up with a spicy bowl of Tom Kha soup. However, I don’t like paying $10-$17 for a bowl. While perusing in our local Asian market, I ran across palm sugar.

Palm sugar is made from the sap/nectar in coconut palm trees. It undergoes minimal processing so it is rich in vitamins and has a low glycemic index. But the process is labor-intensive and sometimes what you see at the super market is not 100% palm sugar. This brand is actually not bad. I prefer this brand over the others because it doesn’t taste gritty like granulated sugar and you can taste the caramel flavor.

I made my own Tom Kha soup with tofu (I don’t like chewing on meat when sipping soup) and mushrooms along with the other necessities (galangal, lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce, coconut milk, chicken broth, etc) . Oooh, now I can make some Pad Thai, too.

Haven’t figured out how to get fresh kaffir lime leaves.