| Yield: | Makes 6 servings |
Ingredients
- One 4-inch piece young galangal or 5-inch piece fresh young ginger
- 9 cloves garlic, minced
- 15 sprigs cilantro stems with roots, minced (1/4 cup), plus 4 sprigs cilantro
- 4 stalks lemongrass, green parts and hard outer layers removed, 2 stalks minced, 2 stalks sliced into 3-inch lengths and lightly crushed
- 1 teaspoon Thai white peppercorns, dry roasted and finely ground
- 3 shallots, minced
- 4 cups fresh unsweetened coconut cream and milk (combined to make consistency of whole milk)
- 4 cups fresh unsweetened coconut cream and milk (combined to make consistency of whole milk)
- One 3-pound chicken, rinsed, thoroughly dried, and chopped into bite-size pieces
- 7 kaffir lime leaves, hard center stems removed, or zest of two limes
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce (namm pla)
- 7 fresh bird chiles or 5 to 6 serrano chiles
- 1 to 2 limes, sliced into wedges
Instructions
- Using a mortar and pestle, pound half of the galangal with the garlic into a paste. One at a time, add the cilantro stems and roots, miced lemongrass, ground peppercorns, and shallots in sequence, adding each new ingredient only after the previous one is pureed and incorporated into a fine paste. Set aside, or transfer to a jar with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate.
- In a 4-quart saucepan, bring the coconut cream and milk to a gentle boil over medium heat. Do not overheat or it will curdle. Add the galangal paste and stir well, then add the chicken and bring to a boil. Add the kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass stalks, sea salt, fish sauce, the remaining galangal and the chiles, cover, and simmer over medium-low heat for about 45 minutes, until the chicken is completely cooked.
- Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with the cilantro sprigs, and serve with the lime wedges.
Reviews
Loved this!!!!! I had this soup traveling through Asia a few years back and always wanted to try it again. This tasted just like I remembered! I did add a little chicken stock to thin it out a bit and I seared the chicken before adding it to the soup to give it a nice flavor. Yum!!!
Anytime I go to a Thai restaurant, I look for this soup because it is SO creamy, spicy and coconutty. I was worried because there was only 1 recipe for this when I searched, and a few special ingredients I didn’t have for it. I went ahead and made it without the morter and pestle, with bottled chopped garlic, added chicken stock and put in lemon zest for the lemon grass. It was out of this word! I used part of a rottissiere chicken and frozen shrimp, and MAN was it wonderful! I will make this again and again, has just the right amount of tang and spice, not hard to make, I even used cilantro from a tube instead of fresh and it still was to die for!