Recipes

Ginger Chicken Soup

Tom Khing Gai

Bone-in chicken simmered slowly with fresh ginger and carrot in a warming broth

Prep

10 min

Cook

45 min

Serves

4

Heat

mild

Tom Khing Gai has a reputation as something close to a cure-all, and the generous quantity of fresh ginger simmered alongside bone-in chicken for the better part of an hour is exactly why. The chicken gets browned in oil first, building a base of flavor before it ever touches the broth, and sweet chunks of carrot and onion soften alongside it as the ginger's sharpness mellows into the broth over the long simmer. It's an easy, forgiving soup with just a whisper of chili, meant more for everyday comfort than for showing off, and it comes together with very little hands-on effort once the initial browning is done.

Ingredients

• 6 Chicken thighs, whole (cracked into 2-3 pieces each with the bone)
• 1.6 tablespoons Light soy sauce (for marinating the chicken)
• 3.2 cups Carrot (peeled, cut into chunky pieces)
• 1.6 cups Fresh ginger (peeled, sliced 1/4 inch thick)
• 3/4-1 Brown or yellow onion (peeled, cut into quarters)
• 6 Green onions (bottoms finely chopped, tops cut into 1-inch pieces)
• 1-2 Thai hot chilies (finely chopped)
• 1.6 tablespoons Oyster sauce
• 0.8 tablespoon Sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons Fish sauce (to taste)
• 3 1/4 tablespoons Vegetable oil (for browning the chicken)
• 4.8 cups Water (plus more as needed)

Directions

1. Cut the chicken thighs, cracking the bone into 2 or 3 pieces each with a heavy knife or cleaver.
2. Marinate the chicken in the light soy sauce for 20 minutes.
3. While marinating, cut the carrot into chunky pieces. Peel and slice the ginger. Peel and quarter the onion. Finely chop the bottom of the green onions and cut the tops into 1-inch pieces. Finely chop the chili.
4. Heat the oil in a wok or deep pan. Fry the chicken until well browned, then remove and drain off the oil.
5. Add the water to a large lidded pot. Stir in the sugar and oyster sauce and bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves.
6. Add the browned chicken, carrot, ginger, onion, chopped green onion, and chili. Add more water if needed so everything is barely covered.
7. Bring to a hard boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.
8. Taste and season with fish sauce as needed, keeping the broth from getting too salty.
9. Serve in bowls topped with the green onion tops, garnished with parsley or cilantro.

Notes

Brown the chicken in oil before it ever touches the broth — that step alone adds noticeably more depth to the finished soup than simmering the chicken raw.

Substitutions

Bone-in chicken breast can substitute for thighs, though thighs stay juicier through the long simmer.