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Oct 12 2011
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Recipes

10.12.11 – Thai Tom Ka Gai (Coconut Chicken Soup)!

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Tom Ka Gai (Coconut Chicken Soup)

 
You’ve got to love great food photos!

Even someone hesitant to try different foods would have to admit that the soup in the photo above looks pretty darn appetizing!

I wish that I could take credit for the photo, but sadly, it’s just an excellent photo I found of Tom Ka Gai (Coconut Chicken Soup). It made for an absolutely delicious and different meal but truthfully, mine did not look half as lovely what you see above! And a creepy-looking soup isn’t going to persuade you to try this recipe out for yourself, is it? ;)

Now, if you’re looking for something healthy, you should probably print and dogear this recipe for another day – this soup is coconut milk based, in other words, pretty fattening.
But if you treat it like an appetizer, keep the portions small, and add in some veggies, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy this with a healthier Thai main dish!

I found an original recipe on AllRecipes, but have modified it for you based on my own (and hubby’s) taste. We’ve upped the chicken, reduced the coconut milk and vegetable oil to save on calories, upped the veggies and spices, and reduced the fish sauce slightly. [ Note: DO NOT smell the fish sauce if you choose to add this ingredient. Alone, it's like a pure whiff of sardine. But mixed into soup, it's simply salty and VERY Thai! ]

Ingredients

    1. 1 or 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken meat
    2. 1 can coconut milk
    3. 1 tablespoon chopped, sweet onion
    4. 1.5 tablespoons vegetable oil
    5. 2 cups water
    6. 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
    7. 1.5 tablespoons fish sauce
    8. 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
    9. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    10. 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
    11. 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
    12. 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
 Directions
  1. Boil half of the coconut milk in a small pan.
  2. Cut chicken into thin strips or bite-sized pieces and add chicken and sweet onion to boiling coconut milk and cook on medium heat until the chicken is done.
  3. Transfer cooked chicken and boiled coconut milk to a larger pot.
  4. Put the pot on medium heat, add the rest of the coconut milk and water to the mixture and bring to a boil.
  5. Reduce to a simmer and add ginger, fish sauce, lime juice, cayenne powder and half of the cilantro. Mix together and simmer until everything is heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.
  6. Sprinkle with scallions and fresh cilantro and serve steaming hot.
Hubby and I had this with some buttered Naan bread and mango slices. (Okay, so I may or may not have eaten all of the mango before he got to it…)

At your international grocery store you can pick up a packet of Tom Ka Paste which nips all the spice adding and measuring in the bud. This makes for a MUCH quicker prep and can turn this soup into a breezy lunch dish rather than as an appetizer for dinner. Next time, I’ll definitely be going this route. Soup doesn’t usually satisfy hubs for dinner.

Additionally, I’d like to be able to eat this without him requesting some “good old American food next time” for dinner. ;) That said, he really enjoyed this soup despite his occasional avoidance of foreign dishes!

Feeling like something foreign for lunch? Pick up a Tom Ka Paste packet  or mix the spices yourself and give this soup a spin. It’s sweet, spicy, and guaranteed to tickle your let’s-take-a-trip-to-Thailand-bone. :)
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