Thai Coconut Chicken Soup – Tom Kha Gai

This recipe was inspired by This ABC Dad, who makes some great stuff when he puts his mind to it. He found this recipe on Youtube somewhere (link needed) by Khun Poo. This is modified for what I like. I prefer my soup a little more watery but he likes it thick and very rich.

Ingredients for Family of 4

• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1 Cup water (more if you prefer)
• 2 lb chicken thighs, sliced thinly
• 3 cups coconut milk
• 20 rounds galangal
• 2 stalks lemongrass, smashed and cut into 2″ pieces
• 10 kaffir lime leaves
• 2 tsp palm sugar
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp salt and to taste
• 6 tbsp lime juice, or to taste
• 3 Thai Chilies or to taste
• Cilantro for garnish and to taste
• Vegetables of your choice: sliced yellow onion, tomatoes (reduce lime juice if using tomatoes), thinly sliced zucchini, oyster mushrooms, sliced red pepper, baby corn, fresh bamboo shoots.
• Noodles: fresh broad rice noodles or noodle sheets

Directions

1. Bring chicken stock to a boil. Add lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, half the fish sauce, and palm sugar. Simmer at least 3-5 minutes to infuse.
2. Add chicken and coconut milk. Chicken breast could be substituted but be careful not to overcook. Let simmer gently for 5 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink.
3. For the spice eaters, add chilies in a small pot on the side with some broth so that people who want spice that add that to their bowl.
4. Taste and add more fish sauce as needed.
5. Add separated rice noodles, or separately prepared pho noodles and heat through.
6. Turn off the heat and add lime juice and cilantro to garnish.

Pro Tips for making Tom Kha Gai

• The herbs – galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves – are meant for infusion only and not meant to be eaten. Please inform your guests or remove them before serving.
• Wait until serving to add the rice noodles last, as they will soak up all the soup broth and make your soup very thick and even a little gluey if you wait more than 5 minutes.

What’s that ingredient?

Alternative spellings in case I forget how to spell it during a search: Tom Ka Gai, Tom Ga Kai

Better than Bouillon, comes in chicken, vegetable, beef. I love them all. I actually like using the vegetable broth in this dish as much as chicken broth.

Lemongrass is key to Thai cooking. I have cut these up and frozen them for later use.

Galangal: root similar to ginger but with its own unique Thai flavor. Purchased at asian grocery stores like 99 Ranch. Even Amazon sells it now. Hubby has forgotten to get galangal and used ginger before. It still tasted good but you could tell it was missing the true galangal flavor. Hubby leaves the peels on. I slice these and then freeze them on cookie sheets and put them in to sandwich bags so I have them anytime.

I’ve never tried the dried version – let me know if you ever try it compared to the fresh stuff. I just recently tried powdered ginger and while it’s not the best, it will do in a pinch. Dried galangal, also on Amazon.

Kaffir Lime Leaves: slightly sweeter taste than American lime leaves, which I have never tried to cook. Found at 99 Ranch Chinese grocery store or Zion Korean market. These I’ve also frozen – otherwise they only last 2-3 weeks in the fridge.

Fish sauce: this Red Boat Premium Fish Sauce is organic. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled fish sauce that smells delicious, and this is no exception. But in the dishes it’s very distinct and flavorful. A little goes a long way, and if you decide to start cooking more Thai or Vietnamese, or Korean dishes, the bottle will get used up.

Coconut Milk: this one has no additives or preservatives and is pretty widely trusted among other recipe authors I’ve seen. My hubby and I stock up when we find coconut milk for less than $2 per container.

Thai Chilis: a little goes a very long way. We buy fresh from the asian stores. As I said in the Thai Basil Chicken recipe, Chinese, Italian chilis are not the same. You could also use dried crushed Thai chilis and have that in your soup, especially if you don’t plan on using very much. Our son detects it when we use just a smidge. We will break his spice tastebuds eventually.

Fresh wide rice noodles. Found in the asian market usually in the ends of the aisles. They have a short shelf life so sometimes they sell out in a day.