I didn’t know diddly squat about this tom kha gai Thai coconut soup until just this past Friday night on our recent girls night when my friend Cynthia ordered it and had me try it. This soup is life changing and addicting as can be as I almost finished her bowl of soup before realizing that she wasn’t dome with it yet. I decided to make it this week my family and I absolutely loved it. It came out just like the one we had at Coco’s Sushi in Delray. This is quick and easy to make on a weeknight, especially in your InstantPot.
Tom Kha Gai Thai Coconut Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon
- half of one onion thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- half of one red jalapeno pepper sliced; or 1-3 Thai chiles, halved
- 3 ¼-inch slices galangal or ginger
- 1 lemongrass stalk pounded with the side of a knife and cut into 2-inch long pieces
- 2 teaspoons red Thai curry paste
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups unsweetened, full-fat coconut cream from a can; or full-fat unsweetened coconut milk; see Notes
- 2 medium chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces, approximately 1 pound
- 8 ounces white mushroom caps sliced
- 1-2 tablespoons coconut sugar see Notes for Whole30 option
- 1 ½ – 2 tablespoons plus more to taste, see Notes if on Whole30 or vegan
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2-3 green onions sliced thin
- fresh cilantro chopped, for garnish
Prepare
- In an InstantPot, heat the coconut oil over medium heat on the saute function. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeno or chile, galangal or ginger, lemongrass, and red curry paste and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, or until onions are softened. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Turn of the saute function, place the lid on top, and set the InstantPot to meat/chilli function for 30 minutes.
- Release the steam from the InstantPot manually, strain out the aromatics (the garlic, onions, lemongrass, and ginger) and discard. Add in coconut cream or milk, chicken breast (or tofu or shrimp), and mushrooms. Simmer until chicken breast pieces are just cooked through, then add fish sauce, coconut aminos (or coconut sugar), and lime juice, plus more of each to taste.
- Cook 2 minutes using the saute function, then ladle into serving bowls and top with sliced green onions and fresh cilantro. Enjoy!
