Easy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup
This delicious soup is a refreshing and my go-to meal for an easy, pick-me-up meal. What to eat for dinner? This can be a challenging question especially after a long exhausting day on a weeknight. This simple Thai coconut chicken soup isn’t just ideal for those types of days but also when you’re feeling under the weather and need to curl up on the couch. Aside from that, this soup is so tempting on a cold rainy night. Just light up the fireplace and enjoy this revitalizing bowl. It’s a dish that I look forward to because it’s so adaptable and doesn’t require many novel ingredients.
Thai cooking is all about the various aromatics and the spicy and tangy flavors. Lemongrass is often used in Thai cuisine and also readily available in all the local grocery stores. In this recipe, I will show you how to interchange some of the ingredients that we don’t always have in our pantry with ingredients that are a staple in our fridge and cabinets.
Substituting elements in this easy Thai soup.
Lemongrass
In spite of the fact that lemongrass is now readily available in a lot of supermarkets, it’s not always available in my fridge. For that reason, you can either buy lemongrass powder and store it with all your other spices or buy a lemongrass paste that you can find in the fridge section in the produce area. Both of these work great!
But what if you decide to make this soup when you don’t have any of the above. Well then, lemon zest has the same flavor profile as lemongrass and will give you almost the same flavor if not the same. It brightens up the soup so well and every spoonful is absolutely refreshing. Zest of one whole lemon is equivalent to one lemongrass. It’s simply that easy.
Fish Sauce
Another common ingredient in Asian cooking is Fish sauce. I’ll be realistic, my family rarely has this in the kitchen. Unless I’ve bought this for a specific recipe previously. What I do always have available is ‘Worcestershire sauce’.
Fish sauce is a pungent condiment especially used in Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. It has these marvelous salty and umami-like flavors that are created by fermenting fish/anchovies, salt, and sugar. Most people think of soy sauce immediately when thinking of a substitute because it’s just as salty. But to me, the soy sauce has a more dense flavor rather than that bright, sour flavor.
The Worcestershire sauce and the Fish sauce on the other hand are a lot alike as they are both formed by fermenting anchovies/fish. Although the Worcestershire sauce is a bit thicker and has less sodium, it might not give your dish the same flavor profile but works great in this soup. You can substitute Worcestershire sauce for the fish sauce at a 1:1 ratio as well.
Making this Thai Coconut Chicken Soup
Now for this one-pot recipe. I perpetually start by getting the ingredients ready by chopping and measuring them out. This keeps things organized and also distributes my time into blocks. I will also use this time to also cook the chicken and cut it into cubes if I’m not using leftovers. Once the ingredients are chopped and measured, it’s a breeze from there.
First off, start by heating some coconut oil, add all the chopped and minced ingredients except the chicken and cilantro. Cook until everything softens up. Then add the chicken broth, and bring to boil so the broth is well heated.
Next, simply add the coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes until heated through. Add cooked chicken, Worcestershire sauce, and simmer again until chicken is heated through. Stir in lime juice and cilantro. And Viola!
Be sure to tag me, comment, and rate this recipe if you make it or if you are excited about making it.
Thai Coconut Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Coconut oil
- 1 large Lemon zested
- 1/2 large Red bell pepper chopped
- 2 inch Fresh ginger peeled and minced
- 4-5 Garlic cloves minced
- 1 Serrano pepper thinly sliced
- 3 cups Chicken broth
- 1 15 oz can Coconut Milk
- 1½ tbsp Worchestershire sauce
- 1 pound Cooked chicken cubed
- 2 tsp Corn flour
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup Cilantro chopped
- 1 fresh lime juiced
- Salt according to taste
Instructions
- Heat coconut oil In a medium-sized saucepot
- Add bell pepper along with the lemon zest and all other minced ingredients except chicken and cilantro.
- Saute on medium-high heat until ingredients start sweating in the coconut oil and soften up.
- Now add chicken broth and bring to boil.
- Change heat setting to medium-low and add coconut milk, Worcestershire sauce and cubed bite-sized chicken.
- Make a cornflour slurry by mixing the cornflour and water. Use more water or more cornflour for a smooth consistency.
- Pour the corn slurry into the soup.
- Cook until heated through. Add cilantro and lemon juice and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Taste soup to check for salt and add accordingly.
- Enjoy!
Video
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