Tom Kha Gai
Thailand's creamy coconut chicken soup: chicken poached in coconut milk infused with galangal, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaf, then balanced with fish sauce and a squeeze of lime. It's the mellow, fragrant cousin of tom yum — rich rather than sharp — and its whole character comes from galangal, not ginger.
Ingredients
- 500 gchicken, thigh
- 800 mlcoconut milk
- 40 ggalangal
- 3 pcslemongrass
- 6 pcskaffir lime leaves
- 200 gmushrooms, straw or oyster
- 45 mlfish sauce
- 45 mllime juice
- 4 pcsThai chilies
- 400 mlchicken stock
- 10 gsugar
- 10 gcilantro
Method
- Bruise the aromatics: smash the lemongrass stalks with the flat of a knife and cut into 5 cm lengths, slice the galangal into thin coins, and tear the kaffir lime leaves. This is what releases their oils into the broth — galangal, not ginger, is the defining flavour of tom kha.
- In a pot, bring the chicken stock and about half the coconut milk to a gentle simmer with the lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves. Let it infuse for 5 to 10 minutes so the broth takes on their fragrance.
- Add the sliced chicken and poach gently until just cooked, about 5 minutes. Keep it at a bare simmer — a hard boil toughens the chicken and can split the coconut milk.
- Add the mushrooms and the rest of the coconut milk and simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes until the mushrooms are tender.
- Season off the heat, or at the lowest simmer, with the fish sauce and sugar. Add the whole or lightly crushed Thai chilies — crushing them releases more heat, leaving them whole keeps it gentle.
- Stir in the lime juice last, off the heat. Adding it while the soup is boiling turns it bitter and dulls the fresh sourness that balances the coconut.
- Taste and balance: it should be creamy, salty, sour, and mildly hot all at once. Adjust with more fish sauce, lime, or sugar, then serve scattered with cilantro.
FAQ
Tom kha is creamy with coconut milk and built on galangal, so it's rich and mellow; tom yum is a clear, sharper, hotter broth without coconut. They share aromatics like lemongrass and lime leaf but land in very different places. For the clear, sharper version, see tom yum.
You can, but it changes the dish. Galangal is sharper, piney, and more citrusy than ginger, and it's the flavour that makes tom kha taste like tom kha. If you must substitute, use less ginger than the galangal called for. Galangal keeps well, so use the rest in a Thai green curry.
It was boiled too hard. Coconut milk splits into grainy curds and oil at a rolling boil, especially the thinner canned kinds. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer and add the final coconut milk toward the end. The same gentle-simmer rule holds for massaman curry.
No — they're left in for flavour but are tough and fibrous to chew. Warn diners, or fish out the big pieces before serving. The kaffir lime leaves are usually left in as well and set aside on the plate.
The Thai chilies decide it. Leave them whole for a gentle warmth, bruise them for more, or slice them for full heat. You can also serve extra sliced chili and a wedge of lime on the side so everyone adjusts their own bowl.
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