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Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut Milk

Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut Milk

If you know Tom Kha Gai, you know that the taste of this classic Thai soup is kaleidoscopic. Sweet and creamy with coconut milk, sour and aromatic with lime and lemongrass, spicy with fiery red chilies, and all brought to harmony by the salty base note of fish sauce. This version is super easy to make at home and comes together in a flash for an easy, soul-brightening weeknight meal.

Tom Kha Gai (or Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut Milk) uses some authentic Thai ingredients, which may be bad news for those of us living in little landlocked towns. The good news is that there are substitutions for these ingredients that can be found in any grocery store. And the even better news is that I have made this soup with both authentic Thai ingredients (like lime leaves) and with common substitutions (like lime zest) with little compromise in flavor. That’s rare in the world of recipes, but I feel it’s true in this case.

 


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Chef's Tips:

  • The key to this soup, as in many Thai recipes, lies in striking the right balance between sweet, sour, spicy, and salty flavors. That balance is one of the crowning principles of Thai cuisine, and there’s no other way to reach it than to taste, taste, taste. Tweak it with a bit of extra fish sauce for salt, an extra squeeze of lime for sour, an extra pinch of sugar for sweet, or an extra hit of chilies for spice. Taste and tweak repeatedly until you find yourself wanting to taste again and again and again. That means it’s done : )
  • Shrimp is a delicious alternative to chicken in this soup, but add them towards the end so they don’t get overcooked. Shrimp only need 2 or 3 minutes in boiling liquid to cook. 
  • A note regarding spice: when cooking for kids simply omit the chili paste until you’ve ladled out the soup, and stir it into each bowl as desired. Sriracha has a major cult following, but if you haven’t tried it, you may enjoy the more multi-dimensional flavor of Sambal Oelek. I know I do.

 


Try this next: Creamy Carrot Coconut Soup


 

Thyroid-healthy Highlights:

  

Happy cooking, happy thriving, and enjoy the recipe (below)!

P.S. Need more thyroid-friendly recipe inspiration? I’ve got you covered. My Thyroid-friendly Everyday eCookbook features over 50 quick and easy, thyroid-friendly recipes your whole family will love. To take a peek at what’s inside, CLICK HERE.

 

 

More Thyroid-Healthy Soup Recipes:

 

 

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