Thai Chicken Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Gai)

Photo: Annabelle Breakey; Styling: Randy Mon
Time: 20 minutes.
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
- 1 can (14 oz.) reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 6 quarter-size slices fresh ginger
- 1 stalk fresh lemongrass, cut in 1-in. pieces
- 1 pound boned, skinned chicken breast or thighs, cut into 1-in. chunks
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon Thai chili paste
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Preparation
In a medium saucepan, combine coconut milk, broth, ginger, and lemongrass and bring to boil over high heat. Add chicken, mushrooms, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and chili paste. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is firm and opaque, 5 to 10 minutes. Discard lemongrass. Garnish servings with basil and cilantro.
Note: Nutritional analysis is per 1 1/2-cup serving.
Nutritional Information
- Calories:
- 357 (63% from fat)
- Protein:
- 29g
- Fat:
- 25g (sat 19)
- Carbohydrate:
- 7.2g
- Fiber:
- 0.5g
- Sodium:
- 484mg
- Cholesterol:
- 79mg
Member Ratings and Reviews
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This is a good base recipe for Tom Kha Gai. I like to make the base with the aromatics, then throughout the week, I reheat what I want to eat, adding chicken, tofu, shrimp, spinach, bok choy, or anything that sounds like a good addition. One pot can last me all week.01/19/10
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This is a very good recipe. My wife loves it. Just two observations:
1. Since it calls for fish sauce, know that there can be a WIDE range of tastes in fish sauce.
2. This is just as good, if not better, with shrimp instead of the chicken.04/23/09




