Sawadee Ka!
Tom Kha Gai, aka Thai Chicken Coconut Soup, is one of my absolute favourites! Now that we are back in Phuket I thought it was about time I made it. I first discovered this soup when Dwayne and I visited Phuket in 2007. I gotta say, I was a little reserved about trying a coconut soup… it didn’t look that appetising, but it was delicious! So flavoursome in fact, that I sat there tasting it and deciphering the flavours so I would be able to make it myself when I got back home. I think my tastebuds did a good job of recognising the ingredients and my Tom Kha Gai is delicious….. if I do say so myself! However, I don’t have a recipe to share with you as I cook it by taste every time I make it, and I forgot to write it down as I cooked it this time for the blog… doh! But I do remember what goes in it and what I did so I will explain it the best I can.

This is what I did…
I heated 1 cup of chicken stock and added about 8 kaffir lime leaves bruised and ripped apart, two sticks of lemongrass – the hard part remove and the inner white part bashed with a mallet; a couple of crushed garlic cloves, a 2cm piece of galangal, thinly sliced, a 2cm piece of ginger, thinly sliced and some chopped chilli.
I simmered it for 1/2 hour, then I added some chopped chicken and simmered for 10 minutes before adding the coconut milk (approx 250ml) and a handful of enoki mushrooms*. I simmered the soup for another 5 minutes and then added fish sauce, to taste, and a handful of coriander.
To serve, I ladled the soup into two large deep bowls and garnished with some more chopped coriander.
It is so easy to make and delicious!

Notes:
When I make Tom Kha Gai for Dwayne and me, I do not remove the chunks of ginger, galangal etc when I serve it, as this is how I have had it served to me most of the time in Thailand. However, when I have prepared this soup for guests I have strained the soup before I add the coconut milk, chicken, mushrooms, fish sauce and coriander.
*Shitake, or oyster mushrooms are more often used in Tom Kha Gai but enoki mushrooms were what I had at the time.
Enjoy!
Why don’t you pin this recipe so you will always know where to find it!
Sensational
Before reading your post I actually had this last night from my local Thia here in Toowoomba because last week my local health food shop dude suggested lemon grass tea is really good for reducing high blood pressure. So I have been drinking lemon grass tea and a spoon of Manuka honey every morning and had this craving yesterday for Tom Kha Gai chicken soup. Now that I know how to make it I will be having it weekly during winter.
Great post and keep those recipes coming.
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Thanks Oskar! Tom Kha Gai is so yummy isn’t it.
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Going to give this a try… sounds great!
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Let me know what you think of it. x
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