With the sweet, sour, spicy and salty flavors that are traditional to Thai cuisine, tom ka gai soup is a party on your palate. It's also a dish that I have been itching to clone for years, but could not find a famous chain with a popular version. That is until recently, when Trader Vic's finally landed in Las Vegas at the new Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino. This upscale, worldwide Polynesian-themed chain adds eggplant to this soup where you would traditionally find straw mushrooms, and thinly julienned peppers where Thai chili peppers would be swimming. Other than that the soup has the same traditional flavors of some of the best tom ka gai soups I have eagerly slurped. For this clone you'll need to track down a couple stalks of lemongrass - a whole stalk is about a foot long. Cut each in half and get medieval on it with a kitchen mallet so the flavors are released into the soup as it cooks. Before serving the soup, be sure to fish out the lemongrass and the chunks of ginger or you may be brushing up on your Heimlich maneuver.

Source: "Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3" by Todd Wilbur.