Thai Chicken Soup

This soup has an incredible combination of flavors and textures. It comes together really quickly and if you prep all your ingredients ahead of time, you can be savoring every spoonful of it's goodness within 30-40 minutes.

It tastes refreshing, bright, filling and light at the same time. All the ingredients play an important role in balancing the flavors of sweet and sour with just the right amount of heat and saltiness.

Thai Chicken Soup has been on my list of recipes to try for years now. I just never got around to actually making it. I read and compared many recipes and adapted the base of the soup from a recipe from America's Test Kitchen and added what I thought would taste good for the rest of the ingredients.

Boy, this soup knocked my socks off. It exceeded all my expectations and I will most definitely be making this many times in the future.

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast half, sliced thin

8 oz white button mushrooms, sliced

1-2 lemon grass stems, bruised and chopped

1-2 teaspoons ginger, minced

2 shallots, chopped

2 Tablespoons oil

4 cups chicken broth

2(14.5 oz)  cans coconut milk

2-3 carrots

1 jalapeno

1 (14 oz. can) baby corn

1 ½ cup rice noodles or rice sticks, broken into smaller pieces

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

2-4 teaspoons red curry paste

lime juice, from 1 lime

2 Tablespoons parsley

2 Tablespoons green onions

salt to taste

Don't let the long list of ingredients scare you. Most of them are flavorants and aromatics.

Slice the chicken breast into thin slices, ⅛ inch thick.

It's much easier to slice if you place it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Set it aside.Slice the mushrooms into thin slices also.

Bruise the lemon grass with your hands, peel the dry outer layers and slice the bottom portions into small pieces. Discard the top, woody part of the lemon grass.

Mince the ginger.

Lemon grass and ginger are absolutely vital for this soup. The flavor will not be the same if you don't use them. There isn't anything you can substitute for them either. They are sold in most grocery stores, but you may have to wait a little bit, since the stores don't have them all the time. When you see it in stock, make some soup. 

Chop the shallot also.

Peel and slice the carrots into thin slices.

Mince the jalapeno.

Cut the baby corn into small pieces or you can also keep them whole or sliced lengthwise.

You can substitute regular, fresh corn instead of the baby corn. If you're lucky enough, you may even find some fresh baby corn and use that. 

Cut the rice sticks/noodles into shorter pieces. Kitchen shears work great for this job.

In a medium pot, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the ginger and shallots. Cook for 3-5 minutes, until the shallot is tender. Add the lemon grass. Pour in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Strain it through a fine mesh sieve. Discard the ginger, shallot and lemon grass. They have done their job. You're basically infusing the chicken broth with the flavors of lemon grass and ginger. However, you don't want to eat the lemongrass and ginger, since they are kind of woody and fibrous. 

In the same pot that you used, heat another Tablespoon of oil. Add the carrots and the jalapeno. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the carrots have softened. Pour in the strained chicken broth. Add one can of coconut milk. Add the fish sauce, mushrooms and baby corn. Cook for about 3 minutes. You can substitute soy sauce instead of the fish sauce.

Add the chicken breast and rice noodles.

Pour in another can of coconut milk. Adding the second can of coconut milk at the end of cooking will retain a fresh, coconuty flavor, and not taste washed out.Cook for another 3 minutes. Add the curry paste, lime juice and season with salt.

The Thai red curry paste is the secret ingredient of this soup. It is very easy to find and is sold in most grocery stores. It has many complex Thai flavors of exotic ingredients that would be hard to find combined in one jar. You can add more or less according to your taste buds. Garnish the soup with fresh parsley and scallions.

Thai Chicken Soup

Olga Klyuchits

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Course Soups

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 1 chicken breast half
• 8 oz white button mushrooms sliced
• 1-2 lemon grass stems
• 1-2 teaspoons ginger minced
• 2 shallots chopped
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 14.5 oz cans coconut milk
• 2-3 carrots
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 14 oz. can baby corn
• 1 ½ cup rice noodles or rice sticks broken into smaller pieces
• 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
• 2-4 teaspoons red curry paste
• lime juice from 1 lime
• 2 Tablespoons parsley
• 2 Tablespoons green onions
• salt to taste

Instructions

 

• Slice the chicken breast into thin slices, ⅛ inch thick. It's much easier to slice if you place it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Set it aside.
• Slice the mushrooms into thin slices also.
• Bruise the lemon grass with your hands and slice the bottom portions into small pieces. Mince the ginger. Chop the shallot also.
• Peel and slice the carrots into thin slices.
• Mince the jalapeno.
• Cut the baby corn into small pieces or you can also keep them whole or sliced lengthwise.
• Cut the rice noodles/sticks into shorter pieces. Kitchen shears work great for this job.
• In a medium pot, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the ginger and shallots. Cook for 3-5 minutes, until the shallot is tender. Add the lemon grass.
• Pour in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.
• Strain it through a fine mesh sieve. Discard the ginger, shallot and lemon grass.
• In the same pot that you used, heat another Tablespoon of oil. Add the carrots and the jalapeno. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the carrots have softened.
• Pour in the strained chicken broth. Add one can of coconut milk. Add the fish sauce, mushrooms and baby corn. Cook for about 3 minutes.
• Add the chicken breast and rice noodles. Pour in another can of coconut milk. Cook for another 3 minutes. Add the curry paste, lime juice and season with salt. Garnish the soup with fresh parsley and scallions.