To talk about any dishes called soup in Thai cuisines, “Tom Kha Gai” or Thai Chicken Coconut Soup is one of the most popular after Tom Yum Goong it is not only Thai people but also tourists and foreigners abroad like this menu as well. Tom Kha Gai is a remarkable Thai dish with a luscious flavor that delights foreigners so much due to the creamy taste and aroma from coconut milk and it is not too spicy. If you have a chance to travel to other countries and dine in any Thai restaurants there you will see for yourself that Tom Kha Gai is a one of the Thai signature dishes on the menu.
About Tom Kha Gai
Besides its delicious taste, Tom Kha Gai also has plenty of dietary and nutritional benefits, of course the protein from chicken, as we know protein provides us energy and helps in physical restoration of our body. Chicken meat is low in fat particularly chicken breast that is most high in protein and the tastiest so it is good for anyone who is concerned for their health, however wings and thigh parts are not recommended to be eaten too much because they are high in fat which is not good for health and also chicken’s neck as well.
Moreover, we will get Vitamin C from lime juice too. Lime is high in Vitamin C which is one of the necessary vitamin for our body. There are many necessary acids in lime such as Ascorbic acid, Malic acid and Citric acid that are very useful for our body, for instance citric acid helps in skin nourishing, body detox. And lime also prevents cancer cells to spread as well. And straw mushroom, one of its ingredients contains vitamin E, sodium, phosphorus, fiber, carbohydrate, protein and helps in reduction of heat, blood nourishing and reduces blood pressure. Here we suggest how you cook Tom Kha Gai with a classical recipe.
Tom Kha Gai or Thai chicken Coconut Soup
Ingredients:
- Chicken thigh and breast 500 grams
- Straw mushroom 10 bulbs
- Young galangal, sliced 1 bulb
- Lemongrass 4 sticks
- Kaffir lime leaf 10 leaves
- Shallots 4 bulbs
- Lime 4
- Bird’s chili (red), pounded 7 seeds
- Fish sauce 4 tablespoons
- Sugar 1 tablespoon
- Thin coconut milk 3 cup
- Undiluted coconut milk ½ cup
- Coriander for garnish
Directions:
1. Rinse chicken and drain well and cut to chunks. Then boil water in pot and add chicken, quick cook until the chicken starts to turn its color then take out from the soup and set aside.
2. Then add galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves into the soup to deodorize the smell from meat. Use medium heat.
3. Then add chicken back to the soup, let it cook about 10 minutes, take the foam on the surface out continuously to make the soup to be clear.
4. Then chicken is cooked turn off the heat. In another pot, add the chicken and herb soup and add thin coconut milk in a same portion of the soup follow by galangal, lemongrass, shallots, kaffir lime leaves, let it boiled
5. Add straw mushroom and cooked chicken. And seasoning with fish sauce, sugar, chili.
6. Let it boils and then add undiluted coconut milk and turn off the heat then add lime juice (do not add lime juice before other seasonings to avoid bitter taste instead of sour) and coriander.
7. Serve in a bowl and garnish with fresh red chili and coriander leaves.
Well, this so simple to cook Tom Kha Gai especially this recipe is a very traditional one which has not been applied to other like we can see nowadays because we would like to present the original taste of this menu for you to try and acknowledge its real flavor. Anyhow, if anyone prefers another option of recipe that adds tamarind paste juice, chili paste oil, tomatoes, or parsley or replace chicken to shrimp or fish fillet are all fine as well. We hope you will enjoy this meal. Thank you.
Another famous Thai dishes you should not miss are “Shrimp Pad Thai” and “Thai Green Chicken Curry“
