Thai Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Gai)

Posted by Against All Grain on March 15, 2011 · 3 Comments

There’s an amazing little town in Colorado called Telluride, and it is home to culinary greatness. There’s an Asian Fusion restaurant called Honga’s Lotus Petal and they serve the best rendition of my favorite Thai soup, Tom Kha Gai. You can taste the fresh ingredients and it’s not overly sweet or heavy. Fortunately for me, they published a cook book, but unfortunately, a lot of the ingredients are not SCD legal. So I experimented a bit and came out with this delicious variation.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

1 TB coconut oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TB Thai red curry paste (you can find brands on Amazon or Whole Foods that are SCD legal)
2 cups chicken stock
28 oz. canned light coconut milk
2 inches of ginger, thinly sliced
1 cup chicken, roasted and pulled from the bone
1 stalk lemongrass, sliced at an angle in ½ inch pieces
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
8 kaffir lime leaves
1 stalk celery, finely diced
4 TB fish sauce (Amazon sells an all natural, no preservatives or sugars - PURE Fish Sauce)
¼ cup fresh lime juice
½ cup honey
8 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro

Directions

In a large soup pot, heat the oil and then add the garlic and curry. Stir until the aromas of the curry are released; pour in the chicken stock and coconut milk. Stir briskly to infuse garlic and curry into liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the ginger, chicken, lemongrass, mushrooms, lime leaves, celery, fish sauce, lime juice and honey. Bring back to a boil.

Reduce the heat, stir in the tomatoes and turn off the heat.

Garnish with scallions and cilantro before serving.

If you like soup, be sure to check out:

Italian Turkey and Bean Soup

Mexican Chicken Soup

Turkey and Squash Soup

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Sage and Prosciutto