Tom Kha Gai soup on the fly

If you are busy mom like me you probably have little time to whip up a gourmet meal for your family every evening.  You want to eat a nutritious meal but may not enjoy or have patience to chop, dice, and sauté.  On cold winter nights I always crave something hot and delicious; something mild, rich, creamy and fresh.  This aromatic soup normally is the first dish that comes to my mind.

The creamiest coconut milk ever!

It’s a simple chicken coconut soup that can satisfy any palette.  Like spicy foods?  No problem? Not too spicy?  No problem..Want something healthy?  You got it.  Depending on the fat content in the coconut milk and the sodium levels in the chicken stock this soup can be very healthy.  Since full flavour is what I want I use a creamy (high fat) coconut milk.  And at 20g of fat per 100ml I only indulge in this soup when I deserve a treat. I also keep my level of spice to a minimum and prefer a little heat so I substitute the Thai chile for a drop or two of Thai chile sauce instead.  The recipe calls for button mushrooms but I left them out since I don’t like the texture of mushrooms.

This recipe is super easy to make and its easy to improvise if you don’t have all the ingredients.

 This is what you’ll need:

• 3 Skinless/boneless chicken breasts thinly sliced into small bite sized pieces
• 2 cups chicken stock (preferably home-made)
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 3 TBSP Oyster sauce
• 1 lime – juiced and shave off a few pieces with a carrot peeler
• 1 stalk of lemon grass – bashed against the counter to release the flavour then coarsely chopped
• 7-8  thin slices of peeled fresh ginger
• Handful of cilantro/coriander chopped (I couldn’t find any so I used freeze-dried cilantro instead)
• 1 small red Thai chile finely chopped (I used chile sauce)
• 3/4 cup sliced button mushrooms
• Kaffir lime leaf (preferably fresh but I could only find dried)

Bring the chicken stock to a boil.  Add the oyster sauce, lemongrass, ginger, chile, kaffir lime leaf, lime juice and lime skin pieces and reduce the heat to a simmer for 5 min.  Add chicken, mushrooms and coconut milk and simmer for 15 min.  Top with fresh cilantro/coriander and serve immediately.

That’s it.  “Easy peasy” as Jamie Oliver always says.

Enjoy