22
Submitted by Gatorbek
"This is my husband's all time favorite Thai soup - but up until now, I haven't been able to recreate it at home. I've played around with several versions to come up with this one. The authentic ingredients make a HUGE difference - although you can use substitutions, of course, it does affect the outcome. I have been able to find the galangal root (much preferred over ginger!!), the lemongrass, and the kaffir lime leaves at my local asian market. Yum yum yum, worth the extra shopping trip!"
photo by AaliyahsAaronsMum 
- Ready In:
- 35mins
- Ingredients:
- 15
- Yields:
-
4 bowls
- Serves:
- 4
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ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced (I use a stir-fry mix of mushrooms with sh*takes, oyster mushrooms, and portabellas)
- 3 green onions, sliced (divided)
- 1 stalk lemongrass
- 1 inch fresh galangal root or 1 inch gingerroot, grated
- 2 red chilies (more or less to desired heat level)
- 6 cups chicken stock (use good quality here)
- 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
- 1 1⁄2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1⁄2 teaspoon brown sugar
- fresh cilantro
- fresh basil leaf
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directions
- In the bottom of a large soup pot, heat the oil over high heat until very hot but not smoking. I often make this is a wok on the stove.
- Salt the chicken and add to oil, tossing to brown all the pieces. Cook about 3 minutes or until outside is browned, but not necessarily cooked all the way through.
- Add mushrooms and toss. Allow to cook until some of the moisture is cooked out and the mushrooms are soft. Turn down heat to medium-low.
- To prepare the lemongrass, slice and mince the lower portion and reserve the stalk to flavor the soup. You can use a food processor for this, or just mince it by hand. The woody upper portion of the stalk will be removed later, so don't chop it up, simply score it by making a few superficial cuts in it to allow it to flavor the soup.
- Add the whites of the onions, reserving the greens. Add the minced lower portion of the lemongrass, grated galangal, and chilies. Toss until just warmed through.
- Add the lemongrass stalk, lime leaves, chicken stock, coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar and remaining onions, reserving just a few for garnish. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend well.
-
Taste test and adjust flavors as follows:
- Not salty enough - add more fish sauce.
- Too sour - add a little more brown sugar.
- Too spicy - add more coconut milk.
- Not spicy enough - add more chilies.
- Ladle into 4 soup bowls and garnish with remaining onion greens, cilantro, and basil.
-
Variations:
- Add more vegetables such as some sliced red bell peppers with the mushrooms.
- Serve over wide rice noodles for a main dish serving.
- Make vegetarian by increasing mushrooms in place of chicken and substituting vegetable stock.
Questions & Replies
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Reviews
-
My DH and I went to Thailand for our honeymoon and I feel in love with this soup. I made this tonight and we all loved it. I went to the extra effort to get the golangal and kaffir, and it was worth it. I also added sliced white onion, and it really added to it..
rrherman80215
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I made a vegan version.
anngail_5
-
Not even close to the Tom ka at my favorite Thai restaurant.
Linda M.
-
My husband and I loved this. I added thinly sliced bell peppers (red, orange, or yellow) and rice noodles to give the soup more substance. Perfect combination of flavor and heat (at the back of the throat). So simple and tasty. A go-to comfort dish for us. Thanks!
archibibble
-
This is a good base and relatively simple to make this delicious soup. Kaffir lime leaves (4-6) and Thai basal as well as cilantro (1/2 bunch each chopped) are the keys to this recipe and not hard to find today.
Trent S.
see 17 more reviews
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Tweaks
-
I also added the juice & zest of one lime, mincec Thai hot green peppers, chopped coliflower, and sliced summer squash. Also used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar to enhance flavor. Delicious and authentic.
Trent S.
-
Absolutely delicious! My first taste of and attempt at Thai food. My DH gave rave reviews, and he's quite the critic. I didn't have lemongrass or red chiles, but I put it some red pepper flakes, and I used ginger instead of galangal. Cilantro in Canada's suggestion of sesame seed oil just put it over the top. Will definitely make it again, and often!
MrsWevs
-
excellent recipe! i substituted chicken with tilapia fillets and it was delicious!! thanks for sharing
Sartreana
-
I had this kind of soup once at a Thai Restaurant when I was starting to get a cold..now every time I start to get sick I crave it. I think the wonderful aromas remind me that I still can smell :) This recipe was great. I made it two weeks ago when I was starting to get a cold, and ate it for a few days. The only thing I did different was use light coconut milk, add the lime juice at the very end (as I turned off the heat) and I used lime zest instead of kaffir leaves (I couldn't find them)...but I did find galangal root to work with for my first time - nice flavor!Thanks for the post!
Melanie B.
-
Oh my this is a wonderful recipe. This soup is my DH's favorite from Thailand also and he's been requesting it for some time. So glad I found this. As we live in a small town couldn't get all the ingrediants and had to sub green jalapeno for the red chilis and ginger instead of galangal. Did find frozen, chopped lemon grass and was so happy about that. This went together fairly easy and the taste is wonderful. The hardest part for me was finding the proper ingrediants. Thanks so much for posting.
Bonnie G #2
see 1 more tweaks
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Gatorbek
- 18 Followers
- 54 Recipes
- 24 Tweaks
I live on the coast of Florida, near St. Pete. Great seafood abounds here! Cooking good, family friendly meals is my passion, and my kids are as into it as I am. (My 3 year old cracks a mean egg!)<img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/adoptedspring08.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
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