Easy Tom Kha Gai Soup (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup)
This quick and easy, creamy tom kha gai soup is PACKED with flavor and has a wonderful balance of spicy, sweet, salty, and sour.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 15 min
- Yield
- 3 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 3 cup broth or water
- 1 can coconut milk ((or coconut cream, 400ml))
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/4 cup lime juice ((Approx. 2-3 limes))
- 4+1/2 tsp palm sugar ((or light brown sugar, cane sugar))
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 stalk lemongrass
- 10 kaffir lime leaves ((*See note 1 for substitution))
- 7 slice galangal ((*See note 2 for substitution))
- 4 clove garlic
- 2-3 bird's eye chili
- 1 chicken breast ((thinly sliced))
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp water
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 small onion ((or 3 large shallots, finely diced, approx 1/4 cup))
- 1/4 cup button mushrooms ((any type of mushroom will work))
- 1/2 cup baby tomatoes ((any type of tomato will work))
- 1/4 cup snow peas ((tips removed, thinly sliced))
- 1/4 cup red peppers (thinly sliced)
- cilantro
Instructions
- 1
Smash 4 cloves of garlic with the side of your knife and peel the skin off. Keep the garlic whole and set them aside.
- 2
Wash 10 kaffir lime leaves and rip them in half and set them aside.
- 3
Cut off the top 2-3 inches of the lemongrass (it's too dry to use) and discard it. Then take the back of your knife or a rolling pin and hit the lemongrass with it to bruise it and crack it open, focus on hitting the base of the lemongrass. Set them aside.
- 4
Remove the green stem of 2-3 Thai chilies and finely chop them and set them aside.
- 5
Slice the galangal into 7 slices or small pieces. Galangal is very tough to cut, so please be careful when cutting it and use a rocking motion with your knife slowly to cut through it.
- 6
Set the stove to medium-high heat.
- 7
Add the 3 cups of broth, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, garlic, Thai chilies, and galangal into a small pot and bring the broth up to a boil.
- 8
Once the broth starts boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer it gently for 15 minutes with no lid.
- 9
While the broth is simmering, prepare the vegetables by thinly slicing ¼ cup of red peppers, ¼ cup of onions (or shallots), ¼ cup of mushrooms, and ¼ cup of snow peas.
- 10
Cut ½ cup of tomatoes. If you are using a large tomato, cut them into small wedges. If you are using baby tomatoes, slice them in half length-wise and set them aside.
- 11
Cut the limes in half and squeeze out the juice into a small bowl until you get ¼ cup of lime juice. Set it aside.
- 12
Thinly slice 1 chicken breast against the grain and place it in a bowl.
- 13
Add 1 teaspoon of water, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of corn starch, and 1 teaspoon of oil into the bowl with the sliced chicken and mix well. Set it aside for later.
- 14
Once the soup has finished simmering, scoop out the aromatics from the soup with a small strainer and discard them. You should be able to see it clearly since there is no coconut cream in it yet.
- 15
Add in the onions (or shallots) and sliced chicken and stir it to separate the chicken into individual pieces and cook it for 3-4 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- 16
Stir in the coconut milk and let the soup simmer for 1 minute. Avoid boiling the soup, this will prevent the coconut cream from foaming and curdling.
- 17
Add in the vegetables and cook them for about 1-2 minutes and then turn off the heat
- 18
Mix in 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, ¼ cup of lime juice, and 4½ teaspoons of sugar, and do a taste test. It should be balanced with salty, sour, and sweet flavors. If it is not, adjust it to your liking.
- 19
Garnish with cilantro or Thai basil and enjoy!