Thai Tom Kha soup

Rodney B.'s Note:

If you like soups as a main dish, this is a great one... hearty and filling. For a more traditional Tom Kha Gai, leave out the bok choy, tomatoes, and bean thread noodles, and add some extra mushrooms. But believe me, this soup is incredible as written. I can never find the galagnal traditionally used in Tom Kha Gai, but if you can get it, I say use some.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 3 (13 1/2 ounce) cans low-sodium low-fat chicken broth
• 1 (13 1/2 ounce) can coconut milk (regular, not lite)
• 2 stalks lemongrass, sliced in large pieces
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon shrimp paste (use anchovy paste as a substitute)
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 3 limes, zest of
• 3 limes, juice of
• 3 serrano chili peppers, chopped
• 2 tablespoons ginger, julienned in fine,short 1/4 inch strips
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed in very small pieces
• 8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 bunch bok choy, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 6 ounces bean thread noodles, presoaked in hot water
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (leave the stems in!)
• 1 -2 tablespoon lime juice, to taste (probably)

Directions:

1. In 4qt or larger, heavy-bottomed pot, begin heating chicken broth and coconut milk on low-medium heat.
2. Add the other ingredients for the broth, down through the brown sugar, as you prepare them.
3. Bring broth to a slow simmer; never allow it to reach a rolling boil, and do not cover it at any time during cooking.
4. When broth is simmering, begin adding remaining ingredients starting with the chicken, as you prepare them in the order listed, stirring regularly.
5. Make sure the chicken is fully cooked by the time you add the cilantro--if you cube the chicken finely enough and use a normal length of time preparing the vegetables, this should not be an issue, but allow it to simmer a few extra minutes if necessary before adding the cilantro.
6. About a minute after adding the cilantro, taste the soup and add some additional lime juice as desired to punch up the flavor (maybe 1-2 T--don't overdo it!).
7. Serve immediately.

Reviews

[maryemerald]

Excellent soup! Tastes almost exactly like the soup we order from a Thai place at work. I didn't add the chicken or the serrano peppers because I didn't have them and I added a large can of bamboo shoots. And, I substituted evaporated cane sugar juice for the brown sugar because I was lazy and didn't feel like looking for my brown sugar. Anyway, the soup is excellent even without items I left out and the substitution. Thanks for the recipe!

[PIPICARTER]

Yum yum yum!!!

[ATM 67]

I served this as part of a Thai dinner and everyone loved it, even the guy who always complains that my food is too spicy. He was also amazed that he didn't notice the flavor of the coconut milk, as he does not like it. We did not feel the need to add any lime juice at the end, but we used pretty big and very juicy limes for zesting and juicing. I loved the fact that I didn't have to pick the cilantro leaves from the stems, a duty I truly hate. This soup rocked!!!