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TOM KHA GAI RECIPE

Tom Kha Gai recipe

 

As it’s now officially Autumn we’ve been on the look out for some meals which have summer flavours mixed with the warmth of a Winter dish — step forward our Tom Kha Gai recipe. This delicious coconut based Thai soup is the perfect Autumn comfort food: it combines traditional Thai flavours with a chilli kick. It really is the perfect balance of spicy, sweet, salty and sour that is so distinctive of Thai recipes. In Thailand, Tom Kha Gai is served with rice as a curry but you can eat this on its own for the perfect feel good food — it’s especially good when you are feeling run down.

The key ingredients to our Tom Kha Gai recipe are the galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, which are all easily available at your local Asian store — we picked ours up in a pack along with the Thai chillies at SeeWoo in London’s Chinatown. Other essential ingredients are fish sauce, which adds the salty savouriness to the soup (add to taste), and fresh lime juice that provides the zesty sour flavours.

 

Tom Kha Gai recipe

 

This super fast Tom Kha Gai recipe only takes around 30 minutes to prepare and is sure to delight your taste buds this Autumn. It serves two as a starter or when served with rice, or makes a huge bowl of comfort for one when served on its own. You can also serve this with rice noodles as a soup noodle dish. 

 

Tom Kha Gai recipe

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 240ml Reduced salt chicken stock
  • 
180ml Coconut milk
  • 
1/2 tsp Salt

  • 200g Chicken breast

  • 1 Stalk lemongrass

  • Thumb sized piece of galangal
  • 5–6 Kaffir lime leaves
  • 1–2 Thai chillies

  • 1 tbsp Fish sauce

  • 1/2 tsp Sugar

  • 100g Mushrooms (here we used chestnut, but feel free to use oyster)
  • 
1tbsp Lime juice

  • Lime wedge and coriander to serve (optional)

 

TOM KHA GAI RECIPE METHOD

1. Cut the chicken breast and the mushrooms into bite sized pieces. Smash the lemongrass with the back of your knife and then cut into 1” long pieces. Shred or rip the kaffir lime leaves into strips to release their flavours, and chop the chillies into 2 or 3 pieces. You also want to cut the galangal into rounds.

2. Bring the chicken stock to the boil then add the chicken, mushrooms and salt. Reduce the temperature and add in the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, chilli and galangal. Simmer until the chicken is cooked, around 15 minutes.   

3. Add in coconut milk, half of the fish sauce and the sugar, then simmer gently for a few minutes until everything is combined.

4. Taste the soup adding more fish sauce as desired. Once you are happy with the saltiness of the soup turn off the heat and add in the lime juice. Taste again and adjust the lime to your liking.

5. Serve with a lime wedge and coriander (optional).