Tom kha gai - Thai coconut chicken soup
A soup literally for the soul! This zero-oil, coconut milk and chicken soup is sweet, salty, spicy and sour - a treat to the senses.
Ingredients
- 250 g chicken breast diced
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 stalks lemon grass
- 4-5 kaffir lime leaves
- 2 fresh chillis optional
- 2 tbsp ginger chopped
- 1 cup mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1 cup red onion sliced
- 4 tbs lemon juice
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp crushed black pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp chilli oil optional
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry the diced chicken
- With the blunt side of your knife, beat the lemon grass stalks to bruise them. Chop the ends off and cut them in inch long pieces
- In a large pot, add the chopped ginger, lemon grass stalks, kaffir lime leaves and chilis
- Add the chicken stock and over medium-high flame set it to boil
- Keep your veggies ready in the meanwhile
- Once the stock starts simmering (in 15-20 minutes) and turns fragrant, add the chicken and let it poach in this fragrant broth
- Discard the lime leaves and the lemon grass stalks. You may also discard the ginger, but I am going to keep it in here
- In another 15 minutes, add the vegetables in the bubbling broth and dial down the flame to a medium-low
- Add the coconut milk and stir gently
- Add the salt, sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice and pepper. Mix gently
- Let this simmer for another 15 minutes
- Check if the chicken and vegetables are cooked (by now it should be). Turn the flame off, garnish with chilli oil and fresh coriander leaves
- Serve the Tom kha gai - Thai coconut chicken soup hot as is or with steamed jasmine rice. Enjoy!
Notes
- If using store bought stock cubes, be mindful while adding salt to the soup. The stock cubes and the soy sauce already have salt in them
- You can use any vegetables of your choice and/or meat/shrimps/tofu/paneer
- g - grams
- ml - millilitre
- tbsp - tablespoon
- tsp - teaspoon