Chicken and coconut cream soup (tom kha gai, gai dom kha or tom khaa kai)
A chicken soup with coconut cream that is known alternatively as tom kha gai, gai dom kha or tom khaa kai. The recipes vary but they all for the same Thai chicken soup with coconut cream, lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. I tried it at a Thai restaurant last weekend, bought a Thai cookbook and made the soup last night with a few modifications of the cookbook recipe.
Thai food is wonderful, if you haven’t tried it, and I am really, really smitten. The same cooking techniques as most of Southeast Asia but the dishes have a more piquant flavor from aromatics like lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves, all of which you will find in most Thai dishes.
This recipe makes enough soup for 6 to 8 people.
Ingredients :
* 8 to 10 boneless chicken thighs, about 800 grams
* 1 tsp. of salt
* 2 heaping tsps. of galangal
* 3 stalks of lemongrass
* kaffir lime leaves (they come in pairs; I used three pairs)
* 3 finger chilis (I used the picante variety)
* 8 to 10 c. of chicken broth, preferably home made
* fish sauce, to taste
* juice of one lime (you can substitute lemon — it’s not the same but lime is not easy to find)
* 2 c. of coconut cream (see entry on how to extract coconut cream)
* 2 to 3 tbsps. of vegetable cooking oil
Please refer to the linked articles for more details about the ingredients. Click on the first thumbnail below to start viewing the cooking procedure.
-
- Prepare the galangal and lemongrass
-
- Slice the chilis
-
- Cut the chicken fillets
-
- Cook the chicken in hot oil
-
- Add the aromatics
-
- Chicken broth
-
- Pour in the coconut cream
-
- Add sliced chilis
-
- Garnish and serve hot
Updated on July 10. 2009
Tagged: Asian, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, Superb soups, Thai
Comments
10 Responses to “Chicken and coconut cream soup (tom kha gai, gai dom kha or tom khaa kai)”If you want your own pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Stay updated!
View the archive
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Oct | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
Braised pork spare ribs
Strawberry jam in sweet and sour sauce
A cheesecake and self – frosting cupcakes
Home – style sukiyaki
Choco butter cupcakes
Appetizers
Asian
Birthdays & Parties
breakfast club
cakes
cheese
Chinese
chocolate
Christmas & New Year
Cooking for one
Daddy cooks!
Filipino
Italian Job
muffins & cupcakes
omelet
pasta
salads
School lunchbox
spring rolls
Superb soups
Conversations
- Crisma on 'Chocolate chip cookies with fresh mint': How many cookies were you able to make, Connie? And...
- cia on 'Lemon chicken': can i use the ordinary ginger instead of the turmeric? thanks…
- RobKSA on 'Honey-glazed, herb-crusted whole leg of lamb': Since no pork here in Saudi Arabia, this is a...
- MAria on 'Baked macaroni': ive been using this recipe of urs as my recipe for bake mac my famly here in...
- solraya on 'Chocolate chip cookies with fresh mint': I love chocomint too! This is a great one, why...
i discovered thai food a few months ago. i didn’t like it at first because there’s just to much chili on it, nakakapasong anghang talaga! I always forget to tell the waiter to ask the cook not to put any chili on my food. But now i always make it a point to remind the waiter, im now loving thai food specially manggo salad, minced chicken with basil.
The step by step with photos is greatly helpful
Mella, that’s the beauty of home-cooking. Even the spiciness can be adjusted.
Solraya, I have a new camera accessory that makes the step-by-step photos easier to take. No more tripod. Flash diffuser na lang hehehe
hi connie, where do you get your kaffir lime? thanks.
I have a small kaffir lime tree in the garden.
three years ago we were in Thailand for two
weeks and had the chance to join cooking class
and of course eat thai food,the best. We got the chance to come back this Dec for an Asian tour
including Manila,Malaysia,Singapore,japan and of course Thailand.I will make sure to get more
cooking class and cook books. food is always
the best part of the trip. thai food here in our
place is americanize but i really don’t have time to cook, but i enjoy reading my cook books.
is it just OK if the kaffir lime leaf is omitted?
I don’t know how much flavor will be lost, Rey.
hmmm.. look so yummy! i will definitely try this one for tonight i actually have fresh galangal in our fridge but my only prob i only have dried kaffrir leaves in my kitchen
thanks for the recipes! bon appetit!!
Again, step by step pictures FTW!!
thanks for sharing this!