Authentic Tom Kha Gai Recipe!
This is the BEST EVER & the Authentic Tom Kha Gai, Thai coconut soup recipe.
Tom means soup, Kha means “galangal”, a type of aromatic root vegetable. Galangal looks similar with ginger, but the aroma is completely different. Ginger is more spicy, pungent than galangal. Also galangal has a more earthier fragrance and mild flavor.
Gai means chicken, so this soup recipe includes chicken. But actually, the soup name is “Tom Kha” and whatever at the end is the main protein. For example, if your tom kha has shrimp (Koong), it will be tom kha koong.
So yes, you can use chicken, shrimp, beef, pork, tofu or extra vegetables to your taste! ?
This coconut-ty and creamy soup is so perfect to warm your soul, heart and body during this time of year. So what are we waiting for? Let’s get started!
Check out more Asian at Home Thai Recipes!
Check out more Asian at Home Thai Recipes!
Cut 1 large or 2 small lemongrass into small pieces and clean up 2 oz galangal. Remove stems from 1 to 3 Thai chilis. Pound lemongrass with mortar and pastor then galangal and Thai chilis. This way, the aroma and natural oil will be released from the vegetables.
Dice 2 medium or 4 small shallots, cut 1 large tomato into 8 to 10 wedges.
Remove stamps from 2 to 3 kaffir lime leaves and clean up and separate 5 oz of your favorite mushrooms (I like oyster or beech mushrooms for this recipe)
If you can’t fine fresh kaffir lime leaves at your local Asian grocery stores, use dried one! Dried kaffir lime leases are easy to fine on Amazon!
Slice 2 tsp palm sugar if you are using a harden one. You can use regular sugar too but palm sugar makes the sweet flavor more mild and round.
Chop 2 green onions and handful of cilantro for garnish later.
Lastly, cut 1 chicken breast into bite size. Set aside.
Pour chicken broth into a wok or medium size pot. Add lemongrass, galangal and shallot. Bring it to boil over medium high heat, then add palm sugar, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 can (13.5 oz) of coconut milk, tomatoes, mushrooms, lime leaves, Thai chilies and chicken. Stir gently and bring it to a light simmer, then reduce heat to medium and gently simmer for 6 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.
Cooking it low and gentle and stirring into one direction is the key for the coconut milk to not saperate.
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You can add some chili oil to your taste for more kick! I usually like as creamy and smooth as is though. ☺️
Add green onion and cilantro. Turn off the heat. Lastly, add lime juice. 1/4 cup if you like more creamier soup and 1/3 cup if you want more tangy flavor in your soup.
Stir gently one last time and serve with warm cooked jasmine rice!
Enjoy!
Authentic Tom Kha Gai
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 large or 2 small lemongrass, pounded
- 2 oz galangal, pounded
- 2 medium or 4 small shallots, diced
- 2 tsp palm sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
- 1 large tomato
- 5 oz mushrooms (I like oyster or beech mushrooms but you can use your favorite mushrooms)
- 2 to 3 kaffir lime leaves, removed stems
- 1 to 3 Thai chilies, pounded
- 10 oz chicken, sliced into bite size (approximately 1 chicken breast or 2 chicken thighs)
- 2 green onions, chopped
- Handful cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (approximately 2 to 3 limes)
Instructions
- Pour chicken broth into a wok or medium size pot. Add lemongrass, galangal and shallot. Bring it to boil over medium high heat, then add palm sugar, fish sauce, coconut milk, tomatoes, mushrooms, lime leaves, Thai chilies and chicken. Stir gently and bring it to a light simmer, then reduce heat to medium and gently simmer for 6 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.
- Add green onion and cilantro. Turn off heat. Lastly, add lime juice. 1/4 cup if you like more creamier soup and 1/3 cup if you want more tangy flavor in your soup. Stir gently one last time and serve with warm cooked jasmine rice! Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
32 comments
WHat is an alternative that i can use for fresh lemongrass? I cant find it in any of my groceries near me
So there really isn’t a good alternative or substitute for lemon grass in this recipe. I would suggest trying out some high end grocery stores such as Whole Foods since they do carry lemongrass there. If not I would just go ahead and get the dried lemon grass from amazon but this would be my last resort. Hope this helped!
This was soooo good Seonkyoung! This is my new favorite recipe for tom kha gai. Yum yum yum 🙂
Hi – is it important to use fresh galangal? How about any substitutions for Palm Sugar? I may be able to buy both at an Asian market, but not sure….
Thanks!!
Erik
(Love your YouTube channel, BTW)
I found all the ingredients and made this last week. The family loved it!! I think next time I’ll leave out the tomatoes, though.
I usually don’t go for the coconut based soups, but this was so good! It is going in my book as a go to recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Wow made this tonight and it was perfect! I didn’t realize these complex flavors came together so quickly! Next time though I’m gonna put the lemon grass and galangal in one of those little pouches so that I can take these things out easier when the soup finishes. Had no problem getting the ingredients at my HMart.
Hello Seonkyoung,
For your ” Tom Kha Gai” recipe, I’m not familiar with lime kaffir leaves. Can the leaves be eaten? Or do you just use it for aromatics?
This is for the fragrance and the flavor, not to consume, along with the galangal and lemongrass! Hope this helped (:
I have dried galangal powder. How much would I use
I would try 2 teaspoons first and then add more to taste, hope this helped (:
Enjoy reading everone’s comments about making this great recipe! So I guess that galangal is sold in powder form? That’s great since we can keep that in our pantries between times we can’t find it fresh. I hope I can find it at my local Asian market. Thank you Seonkyoung for your recipe.
I made this last night and it was wicked good! In 2012, I took a Thai cooking class in Bangkok. They taught us how to make this delicious soup. Your recipe was MUCH better, authentic, and delicious. I even drove 5 hours to the H Mart to get the galanga root! 🙂 Thank you!
I found fresh galangal today so I finally made this, it was absolutely delicious! I left out the tomato. I never realized how important the lime juice is for the soup’s flavor but adding more really took it to the next level.
Yay! I’m so glad you were able to find some! They can be pretty rare to come across in some areas.
I’ve made this amazing recipe numerous times. Always comes out spectacular! I went to an Asian market on the other side of Tampa and got Galangal, Thai chili, kaffir lime leaves, and lemon grass. I have frozen those ingredients and they work wonderfully frozen. Then when I want to make the soup, I only have to grab a few other ingredients.?
Easy recipe to follow with amazing results. Absolutely perfect – though we cut back just a bit on the chili! Served it with a mango coconut milk ice cream for desert.
Hi, I really your video and already make some recipes. Can you make a video of Khao pun soup ? I really love this soup.
Thanks for all your videos !
I absolutely love Thai food and have lately been enjoying veganizing my favorite dishes. To make this I used chicken-flavored vegetable broth, vegan “fish” sauce, skipped the chicken and replaced it with silken tofu. Loved it! So much better than what we’ve had in restaurants lately. I know I switched it up a bit, but tried to keep it as authentic as possible. Thank you for the recipe!
This recipe is as good as Tom kha from a restaurant. I would have never guessed how easy it is! I don’t eat meat so we use fake chicken broth, fried tofu and sub fish sauce for soy sauce and it’s amazing. Maybe one day I’ll get vegan fish sauce & try that out too. Thanks!!?
Making this soup now. It’s made my house smell so fragrant & delicious!
Made this yesterday for the penultimate iftar (night meal to break fast) and it went down a treat!!! Served it with rice noodles and added some Chinese cabbage but other than that, no alterations. I advise anyone looking at this recipe to try it!!!
This recipe is absolutely incredible and is one of my favourite things to make for dinner! It’s an elegant with complex and deep flavours and I can’t wait to serve it to family and friends. This dish makes European soups and stews seem bland and boring by comparison.
The only substitution I had to make was using ginger instead of the galangal. I’m hopeful that someday I’ll find galangal at my local market but the ginger worked nicely as a substitute and the dish was still amazing. Thank you for sharing, Seonkyoung!
This is so amazing and simple. I keep making it and making it. Thank you for sharing!
One note, I didn’t have fish sauce on hand, so I did 3 tbl sp of soy sauce + 1 tbl of oyster sauce (I made a double batch), and that worked great too.
This looks very authentic.
This recipe looks absolutely amazing!
Tom kha gai is my favorite soup of all time so I’ve been trying out different recipes to get it just right. This is my favorite recipe by far. The flavor is perfect and the instructions are very clear. Thank you!
Yay! I’m so happy you enjoy this recipe so much 🙂
Thank you for the comment and happy cooking!
Love the recipe, but also the cast iron pot ? I looked online and their website doesn’t seem to work? Is it not available anymore?
I’m so glad you love this recipe! Unfortunately, the pot is not available.
Thank you for brining this to my attention so I can remove the website. Sorry for any confusion.
I’ve tried multiple tom kha recipes and this is by far the best. It’s so simple to make and the flavor is great. If you have access to all of the ingredients make sure you use them because it really makes a difference when you substitute. I buy galangal, lemongrass, thai chillies, and lime leaves in bulk and freeze them in batches so I can make this soup at any time.
I love hearing this and I’m so happy you like this recipe so much!
Thank you for your tip on buying in bulk and freezing, great idea 🙂