International Recipes
Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut Milk
(Tom Kha Gai)
This is a mild but spicy chicken soup (it can also be made with shrimp, pork, beef or mushrooms).
Yield: 4 servings with other food, but is probably only enough for two if eaten separately.
Ingredients
- 16 ounces chicken stock
- 4 or 5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
- 2 inch piece lemon grass, bruised to release flavor
- 1 inch cube galangal, sliced thinly
- 4 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 4 ounces chicken breast, cut into smallish bite size pieces
- 5 ounces coconut milk
- Small red Thai chile peppers, slightly crushed (to taste)*
- Coriander (cilantro) leaves to garnish
Instructions
- Heat the stock, add the lime leaves, lemon grass, galangal, fish sauce, and lime juice. Stir thoroughly, bring to a boil, and add the chicken and coconut milk. Bring back to the boil, lower the heat to keep it simmering and cook for about 2 minutes (until the chicken is cooked through).
Notes
* The number of red peppers is a personal choice. It can be as few as half a chile per diner, to as many as 8 to 10 per diner, but the dish should retain a balance of flavors and not be overwhelmed by the chili peppers. 8 to 12 chile peppers for this recipe seems to be a pretty good balance.
Not really intended to be eaten as a separate course, you could serve it with just a serving of steamed Thai jasmine rice, or together with a Thai meal.
Attribution
From the kitchen of Martin James – Copenhagen, Denmark.