If there’s one soup that I’ve eaten 100,000 times, it’s probably Tom Kha Gai. This delicious chicken and coconut soup, you can find on the menu of many Asian restaurants. It’s definitely one of my favorite dishes in Asian cuisine. It’s easy to prepare and extremely tasty! If you don’t want to go to a restaurant to eat this soup, you can easily make it at home. With this recipe here ;)
OK, the 100,000 times might be a little exaggeration, but I am not too far from that number ;P Back in the days when I was working in an office, I had Tom Kha Gai at least once a week. Why? Because we had a great Thai restaurant close buy the office building. The soup was delicious, cheap, and on the table in less than five minutes – everything you want for a quick and affordable lunch break ;)
My recipe here is a fairly simple version of the Thai classic – no need to make it too complicated, right? There are certainly more sophisticated recipes out there, for example, where you make the chicken broth from scratch… but for the sake of simplicity, I prefer ready-made products from the supermarket here. Traditional recipes might be different, but my version is very tasty as well… so it works ;)
I have to admit that some ingredients for Tom Kha Gai are a bit special, and you will not find them in every supermarket. Galangal or kaffir lime leaves can be a bit tricky to find sometimes if you don’t have an Asian supermarket nearby. Regular supermarkets rarely carry these two ingredients. Lemongrass, coconut milk, and various Asian seasoning sauces are no problem in most supermarkets though. At least something ;P
In case you can’t get galangal and/or kaffir like leaves, you can still do the soup without it. The galangal can easily be replaced with ginger – with ginger the soup is called Tom Khing Kai, I’ve been told. The kaffir lime leaves can be left out completely, if necessary. It will change the taste of the soup a bit, but it is still going to be delicious!
In case you have an Asian supermarket nearby, you will almost certainly be able to get all the ingredients. I recommend buying the galangal and kaffir lime leaves frozen. This is the best solution if you want to enjoy a bowl of this soup now and then, in my opinion. Both come in larger portions when frozen, but last very long in the freezer. Every time you want to make some soup, you just have to take out what you need and keep the rest in the freezer. Done.
If you can’t get the lemongrass stalks individually (you only require 2 stalks), get a larger pack and throw leftovers into the freezer as well – they freeze well. In fact – if you want to make the soup more often, you can prepare a lot of the ingredients in advance and add them to freezer bags or small containers. Every time you want to make the soup, you take out what you need and add it to the soup – without the preparation process each time. Should save a little time when cooking ;)
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
(2 servings)
For the soup:
1 can (13.5 fl. oz./400ml) coconut milk
13.5 fl. oz. (400ml) chicken stock
1 piece of galangal or ginger (1.6 in/4cm), peeled & sliced
2 stalks of lemongrass
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 small chili pepper (whole)
1 tbsp. fish sauce
3-4 brown mushrooms, in pieces
7 oz. (200g) boneless chicken breast, cut into strips
1 lime (juice)
1 tbsp. soy sauce
some sugar (optional)
For the decoration:
1 spring onion, in strips
some fresh mint & coriander
some fresh chili (or crispy chili oil)
1 tomato, sliced (optional)
(2 Personen)
Für die Suppe:
1 Dose (400ml) Kokosmilch
400ml Hühnerbrühe
1 Stück Galgant oder Ingwer (4cm), geschält & in Scheiben
2 Stangen Zitronengras
3 Kaffir Limettenblätter
1 kleine Chilischote (ganz)
1 EL Fischsauce
3-4 braune Champignons, in Stücken
200g Hühnerbrust, in Streifen
1 Limette (Saft)
1 EL Sojasoße
etwas Zucker (optional)
Für die Dekoration:
1 Frühlingszwiebel, in Streifen
etwas frische Minze & Koriander
etwas frische Chili (oder Crispy Chili Oil)
1 Tomate, in Spalten (optional)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Add coconut milk and chicken stock to a large saucepan. Peel the galangal or ginger and cut it into thin slices. Cut the lemongrass into 2-inch long pieces, crush it lightly with a spoon or similar, and add it to the saucepan. Add the kaffir lime leaves, the chili (whole), and fish sauce as well, and bring everything to a boil over medium-high heat. Let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes.
2. While the soup is simmering, clean the mushrooms and cut them into quarters or sixths. Clean the chicken breast and cut it into thin strips. When the soup has been cooking long enough, add the mushrooms and chicken breast. Continue cooking the soup for 5 minutes longer.
3. Next, season the soup with the juice of a lime, soy sauce, and a bit of sugar (optional).
4. Pour the soup into bowls, and decorate with spring onions, fresh mint, coriander, and chili (in rings) or crispy chili oil. We also like to add a few tomato wedges to the soup, but this is a personal preference and optional. Serve with rice or rice noodles.
Tip: Lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves should not be eaten. Remove them before serving or simply leave them in the bowls and ignore them ;)
1. Kokosmilch und Hühnerbrühe in einen großen Topf geben. Galgant oder Ingwer schälen und in dünne Scheiben schneiden. Das Zitronengras in 4-5cm lange Stücke schneiden, mit einem Löffel o.ä. leicht zerquetschen und in den Topf dazugeben. Kaffir Limettenblätter, Chilischote (ganz) und Fischsauce ebenfalls zum Topf dazugeben und dann alles bei mittlerer Hitzezufuhr einmal aufkochen lassen. Die Suppe etwa 10 Minuten köcheln lassen.
2. Während die Suppe kocht, die Pilze säubern und vierteln oder sechsteln. Die Hühnerbrust säubern und in dünne Streifen schneiden. Wenn die Suppe lange genug geköchelt hat, Pilze und Hühnerbrust ebenfalls in den Topf geben und alles weitere 5 Minuten köcheln lassen.
3. Die Suppe mit dem Saft einer Limette, Sojasoße und etwas Zucker (optional) abschmecken.
4. Die Suppe in Schalen füllen, mit Frühlingszwiebeln, frischer Minze, Koriander und Chili (in Ringen) oder Crispy Chili Oil dekorieren/würzen. Wir geben auch noch gerne einige Tomatenspalten in die Suppe dazu – ist aber eine persönliche Präferenz und nicht zwingend notwendig. Mit Reis oder Reisnudeln servieren.
Tipp: Zitronengras, Galgant und Kaffir Limettenblätter sollten nicht gegessen werden – vor dem Servieren also herausfischen, oder einfach in der Schüssel links liegen lassen ;)
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Tom Kha Gai (Thai Chicken Coconut Soup)
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Cook Time: 00:15
- Total Time: 00:20
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Thailand
Description
A super delicious soup from Thailand – this Tom Kha Gai aka. Thai Chicken Coconut Soup is super easy to prepare and extremely tasty! So good!
Ingredients
For the soup:
1 can (13.5 fl. oz./400ml) coconut milk
13.5 fl. oz. (400ml) chicken stock
1 piece of galangal or ginger (1.6 in/4cm), peeled & sliced
2 stalks of lemongrass
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 small chili pepper (whole)
1 tbsp. fish sauce
3–4 brown mushrooms, in pieces
7 oz. (200g) boneless chicken breast, cut into strips
1 lime (juice)
1 tbsp. soy sauce
some sugar (optional)
For the decoration:
1 spring onion, in strips
some fresh mint & coriander
some fresh chili (or crispy chili oil)
1 tomato, sliced (optional)
Instructions
1. Add coconut milk and chicken stock to a large saucepan. Peel the galangal or ginger and cut it into thin slices. Cut the lemongrass into 2-inch long pieces, crush it lightly with a spoon or similar, and add it to the saucepan. Add the kaffir lime leaves, the chili (whole), and fish sauce as well, and bring everything to a boil over medium-high heat. Let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes.
2. While the soup is simmering, clean the mushrooms and cut them into quarters or sixths. Clean the chicken breast and cut it into thin strips. When the soup has been cooking long enough, add the mushrooms and chicken breast. Continue cooking the soup for 5 minutes longer.
3. Next, season the soup with the juice of a lime, soy sauce, and a bit of sugar (optional).
4. Pour the soup into bowls, and decorate with spring onions, fresh mint, coriander, and chili (in rings) or crispy chili oil. We also like to add a few tomato wedges to the soup, but this is a personal preference and optional. Serve with rice or rice noodles.
Notes
Lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves should not be eaten. Remove them before serving or simply leave them in the bowls and ignore them ;)
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I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
