Thai Coconut Lemongrass Chicken Soup

One thing that I have on my bucket list is to write a cook book full of my favorite Thai food recipes made by my mom.  My mom is from Bangkok, Thailand and in my late teens, my mom owned a restaurant in our little town back in California.  Now that I live in Hawaii and my mom lives in California, I am realizing how important it is that I get her recipes down on paper.  It was natural that I would combine my love for my mom’s cooking (more like eating my mom’s cooking)  with my love for photography.  Here is a teaser of what ‘s to come.

Tom Kar Gai (Coconut Lemongrass Chicken Soup)

A delicious, soul filling chicken soup.  The richness of the coconut milk mingles with the refreshing essence of lemongrass in this oh so yummy soup.  Degree of spicy, hotness: Mild

You will need:

1 can of coconut milk  (omit coconut milk and you have Thai Lemongrass Soup or Tom  Yum)
Thai fish sauce ( I love Squid Brand)
4 cups of water
galanga root
slice of lime
a couple of stalks of lemon grass
1 tablespoon of chicken flavor bouillion
tamarind soup base mix
2 tablespoon sugar
kaffir lime leaves, about 5 or so
2 chicken breasts or 2 dozen deveined and de-tailed prawns
optional mushrooms carrots or any other veggie you’d like to add in

If would like to have your soup spicier, slice some Thai chili pepper and toss it in your soup… add to desired degree of spicy.

*You’ll notice that I call out for “tablespoon” in our traditional western measuring terms.  You’ll notice in the photos that my mom uses a tablespoon that you eat with.  It’s how she cooks so I’m not going to ruin a good thing, so use accordingly.  Traditional Thai cooking does not have exact measurements, since most recipes are passed down to the next generation by showing and teaching, most is done by taste, add ingredients, taste again, and figure out what is needed.  We’ve done our best here to give you a good recipe to give you an authentic experience.  If you try the recipe, please let me know what you think as my goal is to have a real book of recipes ready to publish and ready for you to make and enjoy at home.

Squid brand Thai fish sauce, coconut milk/cream and tamarind soup base mix.

Most of these ingredients you should be able to find at an Oriental grocery market or in the Asian aisle of your local grocery store.  I live in Hawaii, so it’s as easy as heading to Chinatown in Honolulu.  (I have coconut cream pictured, but use coconut milk as the coconut cream will be too thick and you’ll have to compensate by adding more water… this recipe is using coconut milk.)

Kaffir lime leaves, galanga root, lime and lemon grass stalks.

Prepare by slicing chicken breasts on the bias into bite size pieces. Slice galanga root, you’ll need about 4 coin size slices, about 1/16″ thick, give or take. Cut stalks of lemon grass into 1″ or so stalks.  The galanga and lemon grass are not meant to be eaten, but to add the flavor to the broth.

Slice galanga root into coins, cut lemon grass stalks into 1″ pieces.

Cut galanga root into coin size pieces.

Put the coins of galanga root and stalks of lemon grass in a soup pot, add the 1 can of coconut milk and add 4 cups of water. Cook on medium high and wait for it to boil.

Wait for the goodness to boil.

Once it boils, switch to simmer. (You might have to remove the pot from heat if it froths over.)  Add 2 tablespoons of tamarind mix. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and if it needs to be a little sweeter, add another tablespoon to taste. My mom is diabetic and so we substitute the sugar with Blue Agave Nectar. At this point, if you would like to add mushrooms and carrots or any other veggie, this is a good time to do that.

We love our Thai Coconut Lemongrass Chicken Soup with mushrooms… yummy!

Simmer about 5 minutes.  Add  about 2 tablespoons of chicken flavor bouillon powder.  Taste.  If it’s too bland, add a little more.

An essential in Thai cooking, Fish Sauce. Squid Brand is the best.

Add 1 tablespoon of Thai Fish Sauce… Taste. If it needs a little more salty, add a little more fish sauce. But just a little. A little goes a long way! Continue to boil and smell the wonderful aroma. Add your sliced chicken and boil until the chicken is cooked. This is added last as we want the chicken to be tender and not over cooked.

Toss torn kaffir lime leaves into pot.

Finish by tearing the kaffir lime leaves and tossing the leaves on top the soup. By tearing the kaffir lime leaves, you are releasing the essence of the leaves to be infused into the soup. A vibrant lemony taste and smell.

Thai Coconut Lemongrass Chicken Soup Goodness!!

Garnish with cilantro and Thai chili pepper (optional) and serve with a slice of lime. If you desire, give a squeeze of lime in your soup. It really wakes up the flavors.

Garnish with cilantro and a Thai chili pepper (optional). Serve with a slice of lime.

Perfect for a cold day, with a little left over rice stirred into it if you like… Oh SO Good!!! Enjoy!!!