Name: Tom Kha Gai (Thai-Style Chicken and Coconut Soup with Lemongrass)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 4 cups chicken foot stock; 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms (thinly sliced and stems reserved); 3 Thai chilies (smashed); 1 stalk lemongrass; 2 tbsp ginger paste; 6 lime leaves; 2 shallots (peeled and diced with skins reserved); 1 1/2 pounds boneless (skinless chicken thighs); 13.5 oz coconut milk; 1/4 cup fish sauce; 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar; cilantro (for garnish); thai basil (for garnish); lime wedges (for serving)

Tom Kha Gai: Thai-style Chicken and Coconut Milk Soup with lemongrass, shallots, ginger, lime and chiles. From the cookbook Broth and Stock.

Tom Kah Gai is a traditional Thai soup. Chopped chicken thighs and shiitake mushrooms swim in a flavorful broth perfumed by ginger, shallots, lime, lemongrass and chile peppers. Deeply aromatic, its flavors offer a beautiful combination of sweet, salty and sour that’s spiked with just a little bit of heat. You can top it with a handful of fresh herbs like cilantro and Thai basil which give the soup a wonderful, vibrant green punch.

We serve ours as a light meal, topped with a squeeze of lime, and accompanied by a bowl of steamed jasmine rice. I often serve sliced mangoes or cultured coconut mango popsicles for dessert.

Broth and Stock

This recipe comes from my newest cookbook. It covers nourishing meat and bone broths, soups, stews and more.

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Tom Kha Gai (Thai-Style Chicken and Coconut Soup with Lemongrass)

The interplay of sweet, salty, and sour comes together in Tom Kha Gai, a flavorful Thai soup that’s perfumed by lemongrass and spiked with hot peppers. This recipe is featured in my new cookbook – Broth and Stock which is published by Ten Speed Press and available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and your local bookseller.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time45 mins

Servings: servings

Calories: 318kcal

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Ingredients

4 cups chicken foot stock
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms thinly sliced and stems reserved
3 Thai chilies smashed
1 stalk lemongrass
2 tbsp ginger paste
6 lime leaves
2 shallots peeled and diced with skins reserved
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
13.5 oz coconut milk
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar
cilantro for garnish
thai basil for garnish
lime wedges for serving

Instructions

Pour the stock into a large saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Toss shiitake stems, chiles, lemongrass, ginger peelings, shallot skins and lime leaves into the simmering broth. Cover the saucepan, and let the aromatics infuse the broth with their flavors about twenty minutes.
Turn off the heat and strain the broth into a pitcher or jar through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the solids. Wipe the saucepan clean. with a kitchen towel to remove any stray debris.
Return the flavored broth to the saucepan and then add mushroom caps, sliced ginger, and shallots. Spoon in the chopped chicken thighs. Stir the coconut milk, fish sauce, and palm sugar into the broth and simmer over medium heat until the vegetables soften and the chicken cooks through, turning an opaque white, about twenty-five minutes.
Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with sprigs of cilantro and Thai basil and serve with lime wedges alongside.