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Recipe: Tom Kha Gai

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Made with real bone broth and coconut milk, Tom Kha Gai is surprisingly nutrient dense and filling for being such a creamy, flavorful, savory soup. Think Chicken Noodle Soup is the king's bean when it comes to brothy comfort foods ideal for colds or sore throats? Think again. The Thai coconut soup Tom Kha Gai is the champion in any match up!

tom kha gai recipe
Made creamy by coconut milk, this Tom Kha Gai recipe is real comfort food.

Type of dish: Lunch, Soup
Equipment: Soup Pot

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 3 cups coconut milk
  • 2 to 3 stalks lemongrass
  • 2 inch piece of galangal root, or substitute ginger root, cut into 8 to 10 rounds the size and shape of quarters (or silver dollars)–Galangal root can be found frozen in Asian grocery stores or in dried form (Thai Kitchen brand)
  • 4 kaffir lime leaves, if you can find them, ripped into four pieces each
  • 2 uncooked chicken breasts, or alternately, 3 cups cooked and shredded chicken
  • 1 to 2 cups thinly sliced shiitake or oyster mushrooms (or any other mushrooms)
  • 1 TB fish sauce
  • 1 lime
  • 1 green onion, thinly sliced (for FODMAPs use green section only)
  • 1 TB chopped cilantro leaves
  • optional: 2 or more Thai bird chilies or other chili of choice, stem removed and lightly crushed (omit for autoimmune)

Directions:

  1. Bring the stock to a boil, skim off any foam that rises to the top and add all ingredients, except the fish sauce, cilantro, and green onion.
  2. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
  3. Season to taste with salt, and fish sauce. Ladle into soup bowls or mugs, and garnish with cilantro and green onions.

Enjoy!

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  1. Could you sub almond or cashew milk for the coconut milk? I love Tom Kha Gai but coconut milk really messes my tummy up right now.

  2. Absolutely delicious recipe, however, the lemongrass, kaffir leaves and galangal should be simmered in the broth/coconut milk first, then strained. It was a real bummer to have to pick it all out of the finished soup :/

  3. Mmmmm. I call tom kha gai my “Thai penicillin” (after Jewish penicillin). I always make it when I (rarely now) or my housemate starts coming down with a cold.