A few years ago I had gone to Thailand and there I got an opportunity to attend cooking classes and this recipe comes straight from Thailand. We were taken by our instructor to the market to purchase the ingredients for the dish we were going to cook on that particular day. What was very impressive was that they took out fresh coconut milk while you waited. There was a huge variety of fish and vegetables which were quite unique. This was a very memorable experience!
Gai means chicken so Tom kha gai soup means Thai coconut soup with chicken in Thai cuisine.
This soup has a hot and sour taste with a base of chicken broth and coconut milk. These base ingredients are flavored with rich aromatics like lemon grass, galangal (similar to ginger) kaffir lime leaves, shallots, fresh lime juice, cilantro and Thai chilies.
‘Tis the season now and this soup is a perfect choice for lunch or dinner
Tom Kha Gai Soup
Ingredients
- 1 can straw mushrooms
- 1 /2 cup oyster mushrooms
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1/3 cup fish sauce
- 5 kafir leaves torn into pieces
- 2 tablespoons julienne ginger
- 1 stalk lemon grass stalk cut into pieces
- 2 small Roma tomatoes cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup cubed onions
- 1/2 pound thinly sliced boneless chicken breast
- 2 cups chicken stock I prefer homemade
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup chopped green onions
- 2 tablespoons of hot chili oil you can add more or less according to taste
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
Instructions
- In a heated pot add the chicken stock and coconut milk
- Add the chilies lemongrass ,ginger and kafir leaves and boil for 5 minutes
- Add the chicken and cook it for another 10 minutes
- Add cilantro
- Add fish sauce
- Add salt and mushrooms
- Cook for a couple of minutes and add the lemon juice. Turn off heat and serve hot
