Tom Kha Recipes

Steps:

• Warm chicken broth and coconut milk together in a stockpot over medium heat; add chile sauce, lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and kaffir lime leaves. Bring broth mixture to a low simmer until flavors have blended, about 15 minutes.
• Remove stockpot from heat and strain out ginger and lime leaves. Return broth mixture to the stockpot and bring to a simmer. Cook chicken in the simmering broth until no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, onion, zucchini, lemongrass, and basil and simmer until onion softens, about 3 minutes.

Steps:

• Bring coconut milk and chicken stock to a boil in a pot over high heat. Reduce heat to medium. Add cilantro, lemongrass, galangal, Thai chile peppers, and kaffir lime leaves; simmer for 5 minutes.
• Increase heat to medium-high heat. Add chicken; simmer until no longer pink in the center, about 7 minutes. Stir in cabbage; cook until wilted, about 3 minutes. Remove soup from heat; stir in lime juice and fish sauce.

Steps:

• Devein lime leaves and cut into very thin slices; set aside.
• Combine chicken broth and coconut milk in a large pot; bring to a boil. Add chiles, galangal, and ginger and simmer over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Add chicken, sliced lime leaves, and lemon grass and continue to cook until chicken is no longer pink in the centers, about 10 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and add the drained straw mushrooms, fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice. Stir well, and serve with plenty of fresh cilantro on top as a garnish.

Steps:

• In the bottom of a large soup pot, heat the oil over high heat until very hot but not smoking. I often make this is a wok on the stove.
• Salt the chicken and add to oil, tossing to brown all the pieces. Cook about 3 minutes or until outside is browned, but not necessarily cooked all the way through.
• Add mushrooms and toss. Allow to cook until some of the moisture is cooked out and the mushrooms are soft. Turn down heat to medium-low.
• To prepare the lemongrass, slice and mince the lower portion and reserve the stalk to flavor the soup. You can use a food processor for this, or just mince it by hand. The woody upper portion of the stalk will be removed later, so don't chop it up, simply score it by making a few superficial cuts in it to allow it to flavor the soup.
• Add the whites of the onions, reserving the greens. Add the minced lower portion of the lemongrass, grated galangal, and chilies. Toss until just warmed through.
• Add the lemongrass stalk, lime leaves, chicken stock, coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar and remaining onions, reserving just a few for garnish. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend well.
• Taste test and adjust flavors as follows:.
• Not salty enough - add more fish sauce.
• Too sour - add a little more brown sugar.
• Too spicy - add more coconut milk.
• Not spicy enough - add more chilies.
• Ladle into 4 soup bowls and garnish with remaining onion greens, cilantro, and basil.
• Variations:.
• Add more vegetables such as some sliced red bell peppers with the mushrooms.
• Serve over wide rice noodles for a main dish serving.
• Make vegetarian by increasing mushrooms in place of chicken and substituting vegetable stock.

Steps:

• Bring coconut milk and broth to a boil, add thinly sliced galangal, minced ginger, and Thai chiles to soup - simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add chicken slices and stir occasionally until chicken is tenderly cooked.
• Add straw mushrooms and thinly sliced & deveined lime leaves.
• (optional : cut a few cross-sections of the lemon grass and add to the soup)
• (optional : cut tomatoes into largish cubes about 1/2" square, and add to soup).
• (optional : if you are using fresh limes, zest the lime peel into the soup).
• (optional : Add Thai chile paste or red curry paste).
• Stir well and simmer for 5-10 more minutes.
• Just before serving, turn off the heat, then add brown sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, and stir well.
• Finisher's instructions: balance the flavors by adding more spicy (chile paste), sour (lime juice), or salty (fish sauce) until perfection is reached. Different brands may have different strength or acidity -- Be careful not to overdo any one dimension, and stir well inbetween
• Top with cilantro, and serve hot by itself or pour over rice.
• Leftovers are often even more flavorful the next day or two.

Steps:

• Pour chicken stock in a large pot and bring to a boil; add chicken, mushrooms, chile peppers, lime leaves, and lemongrass. Boil until chicken is no longer pink in the centers and juices run clear, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add coconut milk, bell peppers, fish sauce, and galangal. Boil for 2 minutes; reduce heat to low and add lime juice.
• Taste and adjust soup as necessary. Serve with green onions, basil, and cilantro.