Real Food Family

Live Well

  • About
    • Contact
    • Work with Us
  • Health
  • Food
  • Home & Farm
  • Podcasts
  • Essential Oils
    • Sell doTERRA
    • grō Wellness

Perfect Thai Coconut Soup ~ Tom (Kha) Gai or Goong

March 24, 2014 by Roz 4 Comments

Thai Coconut Soup ~ Real Food Family

I am sort of obsessed with good Thai Coconut Soup. There is a local Thai restaurant that is amazing, and I order this every time I go there. I typically advice people to never order soup at a restaurant because it is typically made with a “soup base” which is some sort of MSG or major chemical concoction that is completely unrelated to real food. Rarely will a restaurant make a soup truly from scratch- meaning the broth is made from slowly simmered bones, vegetables and herbs (like my homemade chicken stock). I’m one of “those” customers that asks how they make soup if I think I want to order it. Restaurants like this one appreciate people like me because they take pride in their perpetually simmering stocks made from fresh bones and end meats as well as special spices and vegetables scraps. Their faces lit up when I asked this question because they told me all about how they stick with important traditions- like stock making- when they make their food. This made me fall in love with them even more and find any excuse I could to stop by the restaurant, especially to pick up a to-go order of my favorite coconut soup.

Not all Thai coconut soups are made equal. I’ve been to a handful of other recommended Thai restaurants and have always been disappointed with their versions of this soup. It’s like they took a can of coconut milk, brought it to a boil, then simmered some cabbage, shrimp or chicken, and cilantro in it to serve. Bland, boring, and obviously missing important Thai cooking techniques. When you search recipes online you find many that resemble this description. I finally gave up on recipes online and have made a few batches of the soup- doing my best to mimic what I taste from my favorite restaurant, and I think I’ve developed a pretty good (my whole family thinks it’s incredible) recipe!

Thai Coconut Soup ~ Real Food Family

The first and most important part is starting by creating a flavorful and unique soup base. Note that in this recipe title I put the word “kha” in parenthesis. That’s because kha is the Thai word for galangal– a root that is similar to ginger, but considered a totally unworthy substitute…even though ginger is what I use in this recipe because it’s delicious and more available to the American masses than galangal.

Thai Coconut Soup ~ Real Food Family

“Tom Gai” is Thai for “chicken soup” and is usually made with a coconut-infused base. I used shrimp here because my favorite restaurant uses shrimp (which makes it “goong”- or a few other translations I’ve found and I don’t know the right one), but you can also use thinly sliced strips of chicken (“gai”) that will be fully cooked after a few minutes in the simmering stock and it will be equally good. I also love using bok choy in my recipe, but green cabbage can be used instead.

Thai Coconut Soup ~ Real Food Family

Lemongrass is an essential ingredient in this recipe. Once I couldn’t find fresh lemongrass and found a tube of a pureed lemongrass which was a decent substitute, but not great. If you have to use a substitute, the next best thing would be one drop of doTERRA’s lemongrass oil that is labeled for internal use. (Don’t use oils internally unless it has a supplemental facts label.) Do what you can to get your hands on real lemongrass. Grow it if you need to! I just started growing lemongrass in my new garden. You have to slice it up and pound it a bit to release as much flavor as possible. It is also important to use fish sauce and not soy sauce if you can. It makes a world of difference in flavor, and if it’s authentic fermented fish sauce, it is a nutrient-dense traditional food.

Thai Coconut Soup ~ Real Food Family

Most of the soup base flavorings are meant to infuse flavors and will be strained out. You’ll add the final ingredients right before serving. If you want to have leftovers, then keep the ingredients separate (especially the shrimp/meat, bok choy and cilantro) and finish them together right before serving. There’s a big difference: fresh juicy shrimp, lightly cooked bok choy and fresh raw cilantro versus chewy overcooked shrimp and soggy bok choy and cilantro. Trust me…this soup is worth the extra effort.

Thai Coconut Soup ~ Real Food Family

Perfect Thai Coconut Soup

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups chicken stock, like my Homemade Chicken Stock
  • 24 ounces coconut milk (whole fat- the cooking kind not the dairy substitute), buy the coconut milk I recommend here
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1-2 limes, plus more for garnish
  • small bunch of cilantro, stems and leaves separated (do not discard stems)
  • 2-3 tablespoons ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 stalks of lemongrass, cut into small strips and pounded to open up the inside
  • 1 tablespoon Thai chili paste, buy the Thai chili paste I recommend here
  • 2-3 tablespoons fish sauce (1 tablespoon soy sauce may be used as a substitute), I use this fish sauce if I don’t make it myself
  • 1 tablespoon sugar, such as coconut sugar
  • 2 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped
  • 2 cups bok choy or cabbage, roughly chopped
  • 2-3 cups shrimp- raw and wild caught preferred, (small pieces of thinly sliced chicken may be used as a substitute)

Place the stock, 16 ounces of coconut milk, garlic, onion, 1 lime- sliced into wedges, the stocks of the cilantro (not the leaves), ginger, lemongrass and chili paste together in a large stockpot. Bring this to a boil then let simmer for 30 minutes to infuse the flavors into the broth.

Use a slotted spoon or a colander to strain out all the solids from the broth and discard. Stir in the final 8 ounces of coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, mushrooms and bok choy (or cabbage) and simmer until the vegetables are softened- about 8-10 minutes. Right before serving, add the shrimp to the soup just until it is cooked- pink and starting to curl. (If using chicken as a substitute, make sure it is fully cooked.) Serve the soup topped with fresh cilantro leaves and a fresh squeeze of lime.

 

pinterest_pin-it_icon

Thai Coconut Soup ~ Real Food Family

 

Just a little bb gun practice out the door to the backyard while I snap shots of the soup. 😛

Thai Coconut Soup ~ Real Food Family

Filed Under: Appetizers, Entrée's, Gluten Free, Grain Free / Paleo, Recipes

« The Real CA Milk LIE
Urban Homesteading: Tower Garden, Rabbits, and What I’m Planting »

Comments

  1. Laylani says

    March 25, 2014 at 04:41 p03

    Tom Gai means Chicken Soup, not “Coconut Soup”.

    Reply
    • Roz says

      March 25, 2014 at 04:41 p03

      Thanks Laylani, I’ll fix that. I followed a bad source for that translation. :/

      Reply
  2. joey says

    August 4, 2014 at 04:41 p08

    roz this looks wonderful! i will have to go get some from the thia place! 🙂

    Reply
    • Roz says

      August 4, 2014 at 04:41 p08

      It IS good- Thai Juan On in SJC 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Real Food Family Natural Family living essential oils family health children healing nutritional therapy organic homesteading sustainable doTerra Juice plus

Recent Posts

  • I stopped eating plants…and finally healed
  • 10 Dirty Truths About Homesteading {And Why We Quit}
  • Project Simplicity: The Life-Elimination Diet
  • Project Simplicity: Your Edit Button
  • Project Simplicity: How To Start Minimalizing

Like Us On Facebook

Pinterest

TAP

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.