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Devour.Asia

Connie Veneracion explores Asian food, history and culture

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You are here: Home / All Recipes / Tom Kha Gai (Thai Chicken Soup Cooked with Coconut Cream and Galangal)

Tom Kha Gai (Thai Chicken Soup Cooked with Coconut Cream and Galangal)

Connie Veneracion
To make tom kha gai, cook with correct herbs and spices. Galangal is essential. Use fish sauce, not salt. Coconut cream, not milk, will yield the richest soup.
A serving of tom kha gai
Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 40 mins
Course Soup
Cuisine Thai
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

For the spice base

  • 4 slices galangal, (rehydrated if using dried)
  • ¼ cup sliced lemongrass, (lower portion of the stalk only)
  • 2 pairs kaffir lime leaves, ribs removed
  • 2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 bird's eye chili, (use more for more heat)
  • 2 tablespoons coriander roots and stems
  • 2 slices ginger
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon coconut sugar, dissolved in a teaspoon of water to make a paste

To make the soup

  • 4 cups chicken bone broth
  • 6 chicken thigh fillets, cut into thin slices
  • 2 eryngii (King oyster) mushrooms, cut into thin slices
  • 1 plump tomatoes, diced
  • 8 stalks scallions, cut into two-inch lengths
  • 1 whole stalk lemongrass, tied into a knot
  • fish sauce
  • 2 cups coconut cream, (see notes after the recipe)

To finish the dish

  • ¼ cup lime juice
  • cilantro

Instructions
 

Make the spice base

  • Grind all the solid ingredients in the spice base list. You don't need to make a paste. You just want to pound everything to small pieces.
    Grinding spice base for tom kha gai

Cook the soup

  • Pour the chicken bone broth into a pot and add the spice base. Bring to the boil.
  • Stir in the chicken, mushrooms, tomato, lemongrass, scallions and a tablespoon of fish sauce.
    Adding spice paste to broth for tom kha gai
  • When the broth starts to boil, lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  • Pour in the coconut cream.
    Adding coconut milk to tom kha gai
  • Over medium heat and with the pot uncovered, continue cooking the soup over a gentle boil until the chicken and mushrooms are cooked through.
  • Taste the soup. Add more fish sauce if too bland.
  • Off the heat, stir in the lime juice.
  • Taste and adjust the amount of fish sauce and lime juice, if needed.

Serve the tom kha gai

  • Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with torn cilantro and serve.

Notes

Tips for the coconut cream:
  1. If using freshly grated coconut (should be mature, of course), squeeze the coconut without adding water to get pure coconut cream.
  2. If using canned coconut milk, chill unopened in the fridge for a few hours. Open the can and scoop out the thick cream that floats on top. Use that and discard the liquid underneath.
  3. If using powdered, dissolve in the least amount of water to make coconut cream.
For more details about the rest of the ingredients, see Essential Ingredients for Tom Kha Gai.
Tom kha gai in green bowl
Keyword coconut milk
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About Connie Veneracion

To feed my obsession with Asian cultures, I created Devour Asia. Why Asia? It goes back to my childhood through early adulthood. Chinese food, Samurai and Voltes V, Asian Civilizations and World History. Read more.

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