Traditional Tom Kha Soup Food

THE BEST THAI TOM KHA SOUP RECIPE

Steps:

• Bring coconut milk and chicken stock to a boil in a pot over high heat. Reduce heat to medium. Add cilantro, lemongrass, galangal, Thai chile peppers, and kaffir lime leaves; simmer for 5 minutes.
• Increase heat to medium-high heat. Add chicken; simmer until no longer pink in the center, about 7 minutes. Stir in cabbage; cook until wilted, about 3 minutes. Remove soup from heat; stir in lime juice and fish sauce.

TOM KHA GAI

Steps:

• Bring the broth and coconut milk to a gentle boil in a medium pot over medium-high or high heat. (For a thicker consistency, use less broth and more coconut milk and vice versa.)
• Add the lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves and reduce the heat to medium-low or medium and simmer 5 to 10 minutes.
• Add the chicken. For cooked chicken, gently simmer for 1 minute to reheat. For raw chicken, simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until it's cooked through and no longer pink in the middle. Be sure not to boil the soup, as this will make the chicken overly tough.
• Add the bird's eye chiles, onion, tomato, and mushrooms and simmer for 2 to 3 more minutes.
• Ladle the soup into individual bowls and season with the fish sauce, lime juice, coconut sugar, cilantro, and scallions to taste. (Alternatively, you may use any combination of those to suit your own tastes.)
• Serve with a side of jasmine rice (if using).

THAI TOM KHA SOUP

Steps:

• In 4qt or larger, heavy-bottomed pot, begin heating chicken broth and coconut milk on low-medium heat.
• Add the other ingredients for the broth, down through the brown sugar, as you prepare them.
• Bring broth to a slow simmer; never allow it to reach a rolling boil, and do not cover it at any time during cooking.
• When broth is simmering, begin adding remaining ingredients starting with the chicken, as you prepare them in the order listed, stirring regularly.
• Make sure the chicken is fully cooked by the time you add the cilantro--if you cube the chicken finely enough and use a normal length of time preparing the vegetables, this should not be an issue, but allow it to simmer a few extra minutes if necessary before adding the cilantro.
• About a minute after adding the cilantro, taste the soup and add some additional lime juice as desired to punch up the flavor (maybe 1-2 T--don't overdo it!).
• Serve immediately.

VEGGIE-PACKED AUTHENTIC TOM KHA GOONG

Steps:

• Warm the pot to medium heat and add sesame oil.
• Add shallots and bell peppers and saute until aromatic.
• Add shrimp and stir until mostly cooked.
• Remove everything from the pot and set aside.
• Add chicken broth, water, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and cilantro to the pot.
• Simmer on medium-high heat for 10 minutes, then strain out the herbs using a fine mesh sieve and discard.
• While the broth is cooking, cube the eggplant, shred the carrots, and chop the mushrooms to the size of your preference.
• Lower the heat to simmering and add coconut sugar. Stir to let it dissolve.
• Add all veggies except the tomatoes, Thai chilis, and scallions.
• Stir in soy sauce, and cover the pot for 10 more minutes.
• Turn heat off and add shrimp mixture, fish sauce, coconut milk, and the lime juice.
• Serve immediately with garnishes of cilantro, lime, additional thai chilis, and sriracha.

TOM KA KAI (THAI COCONUT CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• 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.

THAI COCONUT CHICKEN SOUP (TOM KHA GAI)

Steps:

• Bring chicken stock or water to the boil, add galangal, lemon grass, kafir lime leaves, coriander stalks and boil for 5 minutes until fragrant.
• Add chicken breast to the soup, boil for another 5 minutes until cooked.
• Add a pinch of sugar, coconut milk, chillis, cherry tomatoes and mushroom. Bring the soup to the boil again.
• Take off the heat. Season with lime juice and fish sauce. Add coriander leaves and spring onions.

TOM KA GAI (COCONUT CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• Cut chicken into thin strips and saute in oil for to 2 to 3 minutes until the chicken turns white.
• In a pot, bring coconut milk and water to a boil. Reduce heat. Add ginger, fish sauce, lime juice, cayenne powder and turmeric. Simmer until the chicken is done, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Sprinkle with scallions and fresh cilantro and serve steaming hot.