Tom Kha Gai

"Thai Chicken & Galangal Soup"
 
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photo by alenafoodphoto photo by alenafoodphoto
photo by alenafoodphoto
photo by alenafoodphoto photo by alenafoodphoto
photo by Rylie A. photo by Rylie A.
photo by alenafoodphoto photo by alenafoodphoto
photo by Dr.JenLeddy photo by Dr.JenLeddy
Ready In:
40mins
Ingredients:
15
Serves:
3
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ingredients

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directions

  • Bring coconut milk and broth to a boil, add thinly sliced galangal, minced ginger, and Thai chiles to soup - simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Add chicken slices and stir occasionally until chicken is tenderly cooked.
  • Add straw mushrooms and thinly sliced & deveined lime leaves.
  • (optional : cut a few cross-sections of the lemon grass and add to the soup)
  • (optional : cut tomatoes into largish cubes about 1/2" square, and add to soup).
  • (optional : if you are using fresh limes, zest the lime peel into the soup).
  • (optional : Add Thai chile paste or red curry paste).
  • Stir well and simmer for 5-10 more minutes.
  • Just before serving, turn off the heat, then add brown sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, and stir well.
  • Finisher's instructions: balance the flavors by adding more spicy (chile paste), sour (lime juice), or salty (fish sauce) until perfection is reached. Different brands may have different strength or acidity -- Be careful not to overdo any one dimension, and stir well inbetween
  • Top with cilantro, and serve hot by itself or pour over rice.
  • Leftovers are often even more flavorful the next day or two.

Questions & Replies

  1. What size cans (ounces) of coconut milk?
     
  2. Why would you have all fresh ingredients and then have canned mushrooms? I would never use a canned food item. I am apprehensive to try this recipe because of that. Yes I can and would use fresh mushrooms but I would rather use a more traditional recipe where the ingredient is fresh mushrooms.
     
  3. Is that sugar content really correct??? Seems incredibly high.
     
  4. Is this health fat since its coconut milk?
     
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Reviews

  1. Absolutely wonderful flavor. Highly recommended. Don't be affraid of the hot chili, the coconut milk neutrolizes the hot. The soup actually has a sweet flavor. The broth is thinner than you'd expect, but it doesn't distract from the recipe at all. I found the time estimates a little short, give yourself a little extra time. I found fresh galangal root and lime leaves impossible to find on short notice. The local Asian market doesn't stock them. You really need a Thai or Vietnamise grocer. The Asian grocer recommended substituting Ginger root for the galangal root, and Lemon peels for the lime leaves. Both of these worked out fine, you just have to separate them out before serving.
     
  2. Incredible flavor, easy and quick but tastes like an all day affair.
     
  3. There seems to be a lot of coconut milk for such a small quanitity of stock. I also think there is too much chicken in this recipe and will use less than 1 lb. It is only 3 cups so the ratio of 1 1/4 lbs of chicken to 3 cups of soup just doesnt jive
     
  4. Very good job Cameron!<br/>I am from the US and I have lived in Thailand for the past 9 years.<br/>The only comments I would make to your recipe, are:<br/>I always boil the kafir lime leaf, lemon grass, and galangal root first, for at least 1/2 hr. or until the aroma fills the air.<br/>I use leg and thigh meat because it's more tender and moist.<br/>Ingredients that you list that I don't use are, ginger, cilantro, and sugar.<br/>One more point to all of the viewers, is: Coconut milk and lime juice are the very last thing when the soup is finished. They will both lose there flavor if cooked any length of time.<br/>Everything else is perfect!
     
  5. My husband doesn't care much for chicken, and he just loves this recipe! I highly reccomend it since it is very tasty, and easy to make!
     
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Tweaks

  1. We really liked this recipe, although we did make a few changes. First of all, we doubled this recipe. Instead of chicken, I opted for shrimp and tofu. I sauteed and added half an onion (I would use the whole onion next time) and 3 carrots (more carrots would've been good, too). I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. Once I sauteed the carrots and onion for about 5 minutes, then I proceeded with the recipe as directed. I didn't have galangal, so I just upped the ginger, which I thinly sliced instead of minced. I used 2 stalks of lemon grass cut into 1 inch pieces. I used less than the called for amount of tomatoes, but I think I will up the tomatoes next time as it could've used a bit more. The recipe turned out great. I was pleased with the results! I'm excited I can now make one of my favorite Thai dishes at home!
     
  2. loved it! We did make some modifications due to what was in the store. Use roasted chiles in a jar, minced galangal in a jar, white mushrooms, lime zest instead of leaves, and one of the coconut milks was 'light'. We also skipped the tomatoes and cilantro, as our local restaurant doesn't serve it that way.
     
  3. This was gorgeous. I made it with less chile because we don't like things too spicy, and I had to omit the lime leaf since I couldn't get them here. Otherwise, It was very good even with those minor changes. Update: I've made this so many times now. I've found that using palm sugar instead of brown sugar helps give it a more authentic flavor.
     
  4. This soup is terrific and very close to the one we get at our favorite Thai restaurant. I also used sliced white mushrooms instead of the straw mushrooms. I didn't use the tomatoes, but did everything else according to the recipe. Hubby was pretty impressed.
     
  5. Absolutely wonderful flavor. Highly recommended. Don't be affraid of the hot chili, the coconut milk neutrolizes the hot. The soup actually has a sweet flavor. The broth is thinner than you'd expect, but it doesn't distract from the recipe at all. I found the time estimates a little short, give yourself a little extra time. I found fresh galangal root and lime leaves impossible to find on short notice. The local Asian market doesn't stock them. You really need a Thai or Vietnamise grocer. The Asian grocer recommended substituting Ginger root for the galangal root, and Lemon peels for the lime leaves. Both of these worked out fine, you just have to separate them out before serving.
     

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