Tom kha gai (Thai coconut chicken soup)
5
Points®
Total time: 45 min • Prep: 15 min • Cook: 30 min • Serves: 4 • Difficulty: Easy
This recipe is able to achieve convincingly authentic flavors using standard supermarket ingredients. The soup begins by enriching chicken stock with ginger, scallions, lemongrass, garlic, chiles, and curry paste. The aromatic solids are then strained out for a smooth broth full of flavor. Be sure to add the coconut milk at the end, and be careful not to boil it so that it doesn’t curdle. We call for convenient lemongrass paste to simplify prep; you’ll find it in tubes in the refrigerated part of the produce section.
Ingredients
Scallions
6 medium
Canola oil
1 Tbsp
Fresh ginger
2 tsp, peeled and grated
Gourmet Garden Lemon Grass Paste
2 tsp, or similar product
Garlic
3 clove(s), minced
Fresno chile pepper
1 medium, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish if desired
Red curry paste
1 Tbsp
Unsalted chicken stock
2 cup(s)
Uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast
12 oz, cut into bite-sized pieces
Mushrooms
1 cup(s), sliced, white button-variety, thinly sliced
Asian fish sauce
1½ Tbsp
Fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp
Canned unsweetened light coconut milk
14 fl oz, canned
Cilantro
¼ cup(s), leaves
Instructions
1
Separate the white and dark green parts of scallions; thinly slice both and keep separate. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the scallion bottoms (white parts), ginger, lemongrass paste, garlic, and Fresno chile; cook 2 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the chicken stock, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Strain the mixture into a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
2
Return the liquid to the pan and bring to a boil. Add the chicken, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chicken is just done, about 10 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, fish sauce, and lime juice; cook 2 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk; cook just until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with scallion greens, cilantro, and sliced chile, if desired.
3
Serving size: about 1 ½ cups
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