Recipe: Tom Kha Gai (Thai Chicken Soup)

I love good soups, and I often make them in my kitchen. Through the years, I’ve added numerous soups to my repertory, and Tom Kha Gai, a Thai chicken soup, is one of them.

One of the recipes I use is from the kitchens of the Spice Market, the Thai restaurant of the hotel Regent Bangkok. Unfortunately, that hotel is no longer in existence.

I still have the “Standardized Menu Item Sheet” used in the kitchens of most 5-star hotels. It describes in detail what the per-person ingredients and cooking method should be for any particular dish the restaurant offers. Additionally, in many hotels, there is an image of the finished dish attached to the sheet. 

I have made a small modification to the instructions. Instead of only coconut milk, I use coconut milk and chicken stock 50/50 or the combination of coconut milk and chicken broth by Freak Flag Organics. Except for that, I use the recipe as it was given to me.

Ingredients for 1 person:

1 cup chicken, white meat, shredded
3/4 cup coconut milk and chicken stock, 50/50
20 grams mushrooms (the recipe calls for sliced button mushrooms, but I use Chinese umbrella mushrooms)
20 grams lemongrass stalks, lightly pounded to bring out the juice and aroma
10 grams galangal, sliced
30 grams lemon juice
5 grams chopped Kaffir lime leaves
15 grams fish sauce
5 grams chili pepper, sliced
5 grams chili oil
Cilantro leaves for garnish, chopped

Method:

Boil the coconut milk or 50/50 coconut and chicken stock.

Add the shredded chicken, mushrooms, lemongrass, and galangal. Bring back to a boil.

When the chicken is cooked, add the fish sauce, sliced chili pepper, and Kaffir lime leaves.

Season with lemon juice and chili oil.

Garnish with chopped cilantro, and serve hot.