Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (Tom Kha Gai) with Rice Noodles
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Tom Kha Gai is one of my all-time favorite soups, it ranks high on my list of the best comfort foods. Through much trial and error, I have created this version of Tom Kha Gai to match the flavor and texture of one of my favorite restaurant versions. This recipe uses ingredients that can be found at most grocery stores rather than requiring a trip to a specialty market, making it accessible as a weeknight meal. This recipe substitutes ginger for galangal root, and lime juice for kaffir lime leaves and uses a bit of red curry paste to add in any missing flavors. Although this is a variation of the authentic Thai ingredients, I promise you the end result might be the best thing you’ve ever made.
For this version of the soup, I use pre-cooked rotisserie chicken to make it more weeknight friendly, but you can easily cook chicken breasts in the broth and at the end of the recipe, in the notes, I share exactly when and how to do this. I also add rice noodles to the soup to make it a full meal, but you can leave those out or serve it with rice, the more traditional way that this soup is served.
I have tried many variations of this soup over the years and have learned a lot about what to do and what not to do to make the best tasting broth. I’ll share some of the things I’ve learned to help you have the best chance of success.
The type of coconut milk matters. I have tried this with many different brands of coconut milk and I strongly recommend that you use Aroy-D brand coconut milk that comes in a box rather than a can. This is a pantry staple in our house. This brand is the closest to fresh coconut milk and has the best creamy texture and a flavor that is so much better than other canned coconut milk brands. If you do decide to pick up canned coconut milk from the grocery store, make sure it’s full fat in order to get full flavor.
It is important not to heat the coconut milk at a high temperature for too long. I’ve learned this the hard way several times, if you boil the coconut milk or cook it at too high of a temperature for too long it can curdle and separate and also lose a lot of its flavor. I’ve tried to make this soup in a slow cooker and I now know why it came out a disappointment. I don’t recommend cooking coconut milk in the slow cooker or pressure cooker. It is important to add it near the end of the recipe, to stir it gently and to keep it at a low simmer.
Most Tom Kha Gai recipes I have come across have a ratio of chicken broth to coconut milk that is not to my liking. If I’m trying to get a result close to what I enjoy at restaurants, the amount of coconut milk has to be equal or greater than the amount of chicken broth. You can play around with this ratio, but I recommend having some extra coconut milk on hand if you find you need to add more delicious creaminess.
It’s important to taste the result and adjust to your liking. If you start small with the amounts of sugar, salt (soy and fish sauce) and lime juice you can always add more to make it just the way you like it.
Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (Tom Kha Gai) with Rice Noodles
Prep time: 10 min | Cook time: 45 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
Aromatics:
1 Tbsp Safflower Oil (you can also use vegetable oil or coconut oil)
1/2 medium sweet onion, sliced
4 smashed garlic cloves
2 Thai chili peppers (or other hot red pepper), thinly sliced.
2 inches of fresh ginger root, sliced
2 medium lemongrass stalks (these are located with the fresh herbs at my grocery store), pounded with a meat mallet
Soup Ingredients:
2 tsp Thai red curry paste. I use the Thai Kitchen brand red curry paste, it is gluten-free and available at most grocery stores.
2.5 cups chicken broth
3, 8.5 oz boxes of Aroy-D coconut milk (recommended) or 2 cans of full fat coconut milk.
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp fish sauce. I use Thai Kitchen brand fish sauce, it is gluten-free and available at most grocery stores.
1 Tbsp soy sauce (for gluten-free use a certified gluten-free brand or substitute 1 tsp of salt)
About 2 cups of cooked and chopped chicken breast (breast meat from one rotisserie chicken)
2 cups sliced mushrooms, I buy them pre-sliced to save time
2 medium tomatoes sliced into wedges
2 medium limes, juiced
4 oz rice noodles (I use the small flat noodles that you would use in Pad Thai, but any size would work)
Optional Garnish:
2-3 green onions
fresh cilantro leaves
additional sliced red chili peppers
Equipment
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Directions
1. Prep the aromatics. Slice half of a medium sweet onion into large slices. Slice about 2 inches of fresh ginger, you can leave the skin on. Smash and peel 4 garlic cloves. Slice two red Thai chili peppers and remove seeds. Prepare the lemon grass stalks. At our grocery store they come in about 4-inch stalks that have already been cut but if you are buying them whole, cut off the ends and peel off the outermost layer. Then pound the lemon grass stalks a few times with a meat mallet, this will help them release their flavor into the broth.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp of safflower oil in a dutch oven or stock pot over medium-high heat. Add sliced onions, sliced ginger, 4 smashed garlic cloves and two sliced red Thai chili peppers and cook until onion starts to soften, about 4 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons of Thai red curry paste and cook while stirring for one more minute.
3. Add 2.5 cups of chicken broth and the lemon grass stalks and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat and bring to a low simmer for about 20-30 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. The aromatics will do their work flavoring the broth as it simmers.
4. Microwave a large bowl of water for a few minutes and then submerge your rice noodles in the water. Leave them to soak while you continue the recipe.
5. Chop or shred 2 cups of rotisserie chicken breasts. Slice one cup of white mushrooms (or buy pre-sliced). Chop 2 tomatoes into wedges.
6. After the broth has simmered for 20-30 minutes, use a skimmer ladle to scoop the aromatics out of the broth: lemon grass, ginger, garlic and onions and discard. I like to leave the chili peppers in, but you can scoop these out too if you don’t want much heat. You can also leave the onions in if you would like them in your soup.
7. Add the coconut milk, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce and 2 Tbsp fish sauce. Stir well to combine and keep the heat on a low simmer. Be careful not to boil the coconut milk at a high temperature and not for too long as it can curdle and loose some of its flavor.
8. Add the chopped chicken and two cups of mushrooms and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
9. Strain your rice noodles and give a quick rinse with cold water so they don’t stick together. Add the rice noodles and tomatoes to the soup and simmer for about three more minutes, until the noodles are soft and the tomatoes are heated through and soft but not falling apart. If your noodles were already softened to your liking from soaking in the water, add them after the tomatoes are heated through.
10. Turn off the heat. Taste the broth and see if it needs anything, you can add a little salt or more soy sauce or fish sauce to your taste. Then stir in the juice of two medium limes, one at a time tasting as you go to get the amount to your liking. Garnish with cilantro leaves, sliced green onions and a couple chili pepper slices if you really like heat. We eat this the same way we would eat a bowl of Pho, with chopsticks to pick up noodles and a spoon for the broth.
Notes:
If you would like to cook your chicken in the broth rather than using rotisserie chicken, you would add two raw chicken breasts (about 1 lb chicken breast) into the chicken broth along with the aromatics, cover and allow it to poach in the broth. Be sure to keep the heat at a very low simmer. This may require a little more time to cook through, make sure your chicken reaches a temperature of 165 degrees F. Remove the chicken along with the aromatics and chop or shred. Then add the chicken back in at the same timing as listed in the recipe.
I found this recipe from 40 Aprons really helpful in learning how to make this soup delicious, particularly how to use the aromatics to flavor the broth.
