Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (Tom Kha Gai)

SeanS's Note:

This is a version of the famous Thai soup created by a close friend of mine in London. I haven't found any place that serves a better soup than this!

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 3 cups chicken stock (preferably low sodium)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 stalk lemongrass , lightly crushed
• 4 fresh lime leaves (use 2 Tbl lime juice as substitute)
• 1 tablespoon shrimp paste
• 3 small Thai red chili peppers , thinly sliced (remove seeds for less spice)
• 1 inch ginger , sliced
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce (or more to taste)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ½ tablespoon palm vinegar (or white vinegar)
• ½ drop bergamot oil (this really does make the soup)
• 2 boneless chicken breasts , thinly sliced
• 8 ounces mushrooms , thinly sliced
• 1 bunch cilantro , roughly chopped
• 2 small bok choy or 2 small other greens
• 1 package bean thread noodles (clear, thin)

Directions:

1. Gently simmer all but last 5 ingredients for 30 minutes.
2. Add chicken and mushrooms and simmer for another 5 minutes.
3. Add noodles, bok choi, cilantro.
4. Let stand 5 minutes.

Reviews

[OwlMonkey]

This soup was a bit of a disaster for me. I don't think it was through any fault of the recipe though. I looked everywhere and finally found some shrimp paste (not too hard living in SF), the less repulsive looking of my options, had tons of food coloring in it so it turned the soup bright pink. Superficially speaking it was a disaster, but it tasted pretty good. It did taste a little too shrimp-y for me, it seemed to overwhelm some of the milder flavors. I think I'll make this again, but next time I'll leave out the shrimp paste and instead use a little shrimp or seafood stock - maybe a 1/2 cup in place of part of the chicken stock.

[macgyver chef]

very good! i used coconut cream and made a ton of it to eat with jasmine rice for a week.

[Leggy Peggy]

Thank you for a lovely soup that is very close to the Thai original. I made this as written, but would suggest a few changes to get even closer. I'd replace the ginger with an equal amount of fresh galangal slices (or a few teaspoons of its dry version -- laos powder). The 'Kha' in the title is actually the Thai word for galangal. I'd also use kaffir limes leaves and probably delete the soy sauce. I used one small bunch of bok choy and 4 ounces (125 grams) of noodles, which made the soup a meal for four of us. Even the fussiest eater loved it. Made and enjoyed for Pick a Chef.