Tom Kha Gai Recipe (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup)
August 2nd, 2009 | 30-Minute Meals Recipes, Thai Recipes | 33 Comments
Tom Kha Gai–everyone’s favorite Thai coconut chicken soup–is one of the Thai recipes that I have always always wanted to make but never did. Why? Because there are plenty of good Thai restaurants in the US that serve pretty authentic Thai food.
So, it’s no surprise that this is my virgin Tom Kha Gai–my first attempt at home. It was easier than I thought, and the Tom Kha Gai turned out really good and tasted exactly like what it should be: milky, aromatic, sour, salty, and super appetizing…(get Tom Khai Gai/Thai coconut chicken soup after the jump)
The main ingredient of Tom Kha Gai is galangal, or “Tom Kha” in Thai. “Gai” means Chicken. The more I cook Thai food, it dawns to me that Thai recipes are pretty much variations of the following Thai ingredients:
1) Fish sauce (nam pla)
2) Coconut milk
3) Kaffir lime leaf
4) Galangal
5) Lemongrass
6) Palm sugar
7) Bird’s eye chilies
8) Nam prik phao (roasted chili paste)
9) Cilantro (coriander)
10) Lime
If you have the ingredients above, you can pretty much whip up any good Thai recipes as you wish. Below is my Tom Kha Gai recipe, which I adapted from my favorite Thai cookbook: Thai Cooking Made Easy (page 2 of my store).
Ingredients:
8 oz boneless and skinless chicken (breast or thighs, cut into strips)
20 canned straw mushrooms
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
1 stalk lemongrass (cut into 3-inch lengths and pounded)
6 kaffir lime leaves (lightly bruised to release the flavor)
6 slices galangal
8 bird’s eye chilies (lightly pounded)
3 tablespoon fish sauce
2 1/2 tablespoon lime juice (or to taste)
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Method:
Add coconut milk, water, lemongrass, galangal, chilies, kaffir lime leaves into a pot and bring it to boil. Add straw mushrooms and chicken and boil it on medium heat for a few minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add lime juice and fish sauce to taste. Add chopped cilantro before serving.
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Hey!
The soup looks really really yummy! I live in the midwest where unfortunately good Thai/Asian food is so hard to come by…so I’ll try this recipe next week. Cannot wait!
Keep the good food recipes coming and congrats on your new site too!
SLT – thanks for your sweet note. Good luck with the recipe and let me know how it goes.
That is one wonderful soup! Refined tasting and so fragrant!
Cheers,
Rosa
Rosa – agreed!
I went to a Thai restaurant yesterday and was somewhat disappointed with the food- it was barely Thai food at all! But I loved going through the menu, especially seeing all the different soups. And here is a beautiful recipe. What a pleasant coincidence :)
Mia – Oh no, I never try Thai food in India, but not surprised it’s not authentic. I tried Chinese food in India, too, but it’s different. Hehe.
I am Thai and this looks very authentic and yummy!!! Happy cooking =)
Candle – thanks for the comment. Phew, a real Thai and said that it’s very authentic and yummy! :)
This is my favorite Thai soup too :) Yes, even more than tom yum!
Joey – yeah, Tom Yum is great, but this has a certain appeal that Tom Yum doesn’t have!!
congrats on your first try at home! fabulous! i’ve never made it but would enjoy it! i loooove coconut soup and just don’t eat Thai out enough!
Yes, coconut milk is addictive, but it’s actually not that healthy, but who cares, haha.
I’ve never made this at home, although it too is my favorite Thai soup! The place where I usually order it throws little halves of cherry tomatoes in there…only about 2 tomatoes total. Kinda wondering if that’s authentic, but they’re an enjoyable addition, a nice little surprise bite in your soup! I will have to try this at home. Yum.
Cherry tomatoes, sounds good, I am sure they look cute and colorful in Tom Kha Gai.
I love Thai food too and i cried for days when my kaffir lime tree died. :(
I wanna try to make this recipe for my big bossman to see if it gets me a raise. If it does, the extra money will be saved for your 24 courses meal. :) Looks fabulous as always.
Zen – oh no, your kaffie lime tree died? I would love to have one, too, and also kalamansi tree, curry leaves tree, etc. Good luck getting the raise. :)
ahh one of my faves!
Nags – definitely!
My favorite! i cook it all the time and never tire of it!
Christelle – I will have to make Tom Kha Gai a lot more now since it’s easy!
Everything here is good…I also loved the pictures…I like this kind of mix…coconut milk and chicken. It’s great.
Paula
Paula – thanks for the comment, yes, what’s not to love about Tom Kha Gai?
Oh yum. Everytime I make this, I face a conundrum. If I make it with thigh meat, the perfect whiteness of the dish is sullied. If I make it with chicken breast, it tends to get kind of mealy and throw off tiny little white bits into the soup that make it look like the coconut milk curdled. Do you know what I mean? How did you avoid that, yours looks perfect!
Hey Ivy – I know what you mean but I didn’t see any tiny little white bits in the soup from the chicken breast. I think you have to make sure the soup is boiling when you add the chicken breast? I personally don’t like thigh meat.
Looks amazing. I love that you added a red chile in the center of the phototograph.
I love using kaffir lime leaves. They are so fragrant. Check my veggie version at http://www.phamfatale.com/id_40/title_Vegetarian-Tom-Yum-Thai-Soup/
That soup is sure a thing of beauty. It is one of my kid’s favorite soups. I haven’t made it in ages. I doubt that mine is more authentic than yours, for sure no straw mushrooms in mine (maybe a few shiitakes,) and I usually use fish. Never tried it with chicken. Beautiful Photos!
This looks delicious, Bee.
This is my favorite soup for winter!! Is the perfect blend of sweet with that little kick in the end!!
I have made this soup 3 times and have impressed my friends 3 times. I substitute chicken with prawns sometimes. For more I added 1 or 2 more chillies. Great and easy recipe!
Jules – glad my Tom Kha Gai recipe works for you. Prawns are great idea. :)
made this today. the Kaffir lime leaves were the most difficult to find, had to go to 3 asian markets to find them. i just tasted the soup as it is simmering…………OMG! i can see why this is my wife’s favorite at “Indocine” restaurant. We will make this again, and again. Thanks for sharing the awesome recipe!
Thanks for trying this tom kha gai recipe. The kaffir lime leaf is the soul of the dish, without them, it’s just not the same. Great that you found it. :)