Soups · Thai
Tom Kha Gai
Thai chicken and coconut soup, sour with lime and fragrant with galangal, lemongrass and lime leaves.
- Hands-on
- 20 min
- Hands-off
- 20 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Serves
- 4
About 10 minutes of slicing and smashing, 10 more at the stove, and 20 minutes of gentle simmering (15 for the chicken, 5 with the coconut milk and aromatics). Total = 20 min active + 20 min hands-off.
- easy
- weeknight
- one-pot
Verified against at least two trusted test kitchens or food-safety guides · Last checked · What this means
Scaling? Add the fish sauce, lime juice and chilies a little at a time when you scale up, and taste: the balance of salty, sour and hot is the point of this soup. Some items (like eggs) don’t halve neatly: beat them, then measure out half.
Ingredients
You need: medium pot with a lid · separate chopping board for raw chicken · sharp knife · rolling pin or the flat of a heavy knife (to smash the lemongrass) · instant-read thermometer · ladle
Contains: fish
Method
Poach the chicken
Put the 500 ml (2 cups) stock, 450 g (1 lb) chicken pieces and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, set the lid on loosely and cook for 15 minutes.
Ready when: The chicken is fork-tender, white all the way through, and reads at least 74°C (165°F) in a thick piece.
Add coconut milk and aromatics
Add the 375 ml (1 1/2 cups) coconut milk, the lemongrass, 10 galangal slices, 5 torn lime leaves, the crushed chilies, 155 g (5.5 oz) mushrooms, 1 1/2 tbsp (22 ml) fish sauce and 1 tsp palm sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Ready when: The mushrooms are soft and the soup smells strongly of lemongrass and lime leaf.
Otto tried this firstOtto smashes all three chilies to a pulp 'for flavor'. The soup turns fiery. The more you break the chilies, the hotter it gets: crack them lightly.Sour it off the heat
Take the pot off the heat and stir in 2 tbsp (30 ml) lime juice. Taste, then add up to 1/2 tbsp more fish sauce and/or lime juice until it tastes salty, sour and a little sweet.
Ready when: The pot is off the burner before the lime juice goes in.
Garnish and serve
Ladle into bowls, scatter over cilantro and/or green onion, and serve as is or with jasmine rice. Eat around the lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves: they're there for flavor, not for eating.
Otto tried this firstOtto bites into a chunk of lemongrass and chews for a full minute. Pick the woody pieces out, or warn your guests.
Swaps
- Instead of chicken thighs: chicken breast, thinly sliced on the diagonal Add the slices with the coconut milk and simmer until cooked through (about 4 minutes, at least 74°C / 165°F) instead of poaching for 15.
- Instead of some of the lime juice: tamarind purée Some regions of Thailand use tamarind for the sour note instead of lime.
Make ahead, store & reheat
- Storage
- Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in a covered container and eat them within 3 to 4 days.
- Reheat
- Reheat until steaming hot all the way through, 74°C (165°F).
If something goes wrong
- Too spicy Why: The chilies were broken up a lot.
Use 2 chilies and only crack them lightly. - Flat or dull taste Why: Not enough salt or sour.
Off the heat, add fish sauce and lime juice a little at a time, tasting after each.
Good to know
- Smash the lemongrass with a rolling pin or the flat of a knife before cutting it into pieces.
- Serve it on its own as a soup, or with jasmine rice.
Safety
- Raw chicken can carry harmful bacteria. Use a separate board for it and wash your hands for at least 20 seconds afterwards.
- Wash your hands (or wear gloves) after crushing the chilies, and don't touch your eyes.
- The lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves are tough and woody. Pick them out before serving to young children, so nobody chokes on a piece.
- Contains fish (fish sauce) and coconut.