Thai Chicken Soup

Name: Thai Chicken Soup
Yield: 6-8 as an appetizer, 4 as a main course
Cuisine: Asia, Thai
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon, vegetable oil; 3 stalks, lemon grass, tough outer leaves removed, bottom 5 inches halved lengthwise and sliced thin crosswise; 3 , large shallots, chopped; 8 sprigs, fresh cilantro leaves, chopped coarse; 3 tablespoons, fish sauce; 4 cups, low-sodium chicken broth; 2 , (14-ounce) cans coconut milk, well-shaken; 1 tablespoon, sugar; 1/2 pound, white mushrooms, cleaned, stems trimmed, cut into 1/4-inch slices; 1 pound, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise and sliced on bias into 1/8-inch-thick pieces (see illustration below); 3 tablespoons, fresh lime juice from 2 to 3 limes; 2 teaspoons, red curry paste (Thai); 1/2 cup, fresh cilantro leaves; 2 , serrano chiles, sliced thin; 2 , scallions, sliced thin on bias; 1 , lime, cut into wedges

52 comments

Appears in Cook's Illustrated January/February 2007, America's Test Kitchen TV

Traditional tom kha gai relies on ingredients such as galangal and makrut lime leaves to achieve bright, complex flavor. Our pared-down version gets these from store-bought red curry paste.

SERVES6-8 as an appetizer, 4 as a main course

TIME50 minutes

has video

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

For a complex Thai-inspired coconut soup recipe, we developed a rich base by using equal parts chicken broth and coconut milk. Our substitution for some of the traditional ingredients was jarred red curry paste, which included all the flavo...

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