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That’s right: tom kha soup. AKA Thai coconut chicken soup. AKA tom kha gai. So here’s the deal: this tom kha gai (Thai coconut chicken soup) is perfection. It’s creamy and a bit tart and salty and a bit sweet, and the chicken is tender, and the mushrooms are filling, and the fresh cilantro adds the perfect herbaceous edge, and I can’t get enough of this soup. I don’t think you’d ever need another Whole30 Thai coconut chicken soup recipe, or heck, a plain ol’ non Whole30 Thai coconut chicken soup recipe for that matter, because this recipe is so damn good.And you know what? I have a really solid story to go along with this recipe.
The Story
What happened was this: a guy at my college found my profile on the recipezaar.com and saw that it was my lifelong dream to recreate this salsa. He reached out to the head of marketing or CEO or something like that at the restaurant in question and told her this sob story about how we were engaged and living abroad and I was terribly homesick and all he wanted to do for Christmas was make me a giant feast to remember home, including this salsa that I loved so much, of course.
So Then What?
So what did she do? She gave him the recipe of course. Of course.And then he gave me the recipe of course. Of. Course. And then we got to talking and…No, our leading fella isn’t my husband and the father of my children (because wouldn’t that be just too damn much?), but he did do the same thing for me later with this tom kha soup.You see, there’s something about this recipe that’s just not like the others. Something better.This tom kha soup is based off the exceptional dish found at a local chain of restaurants in the state where I went to college. It was different than the Thai coconut chicken soup I’d had before, and it sold me forever and ever on Thai food. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it solo, though, but it all made sense when he got me the secret recipe.
Where Can I Find Lemongrass?
I find fresh lemongrass in the produce section of almost every grocery store these days. If you can’t find it fresh, though, you can usually find a refrigerated tube of it, minced, in the produce area. Ask your clerk and tell them it’s important! You can’t make the best ever tom kha soup without it! And you won’t call it “tom kha gai,” if you don’t use chicken. You can call it “tom kha tofu”!
Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. Substitute soy sauce for the fish sauce. Add a 1-pound block of tofu, cubed into bite-sized pieces, instead of chicken.
