Recipes

Herbal Chicken Soup with Bitter Melon

Kaeng Gai sai Ma Ra

Chicken and bitter melon simmered in a lemongrass and galangal herb broth

Prep

3 min

Cook

10 min

Serves

4

Heat

medium

Bitter melon has a reputation that keeps a lot of people away, but this soup shows what a good herb base can do to soften it. Lemongrass, galangal, coriander root, and garlic get ground together and fried into a fragrant paste before the chicken cooks directly in it, and by the time the melon simmers long enough to turn fork-tender, its bitterness has mellowed considerably alongside those aromatics. The result is a soup with a distinctive yellow-green color flecked with red chili, unusual enough that most people haven't tried anything quite like it, but genuinely comforting once the balance comes together.

Ingredients

• 1 breast Chicken breast, skin removed (cut into 1/2-inch cubes)
• 1 Bitter melon (sliced into rings, core and seeds removed, cut into bite-sized pieces)
• 6 Coriander plants with roots (stems and leaves finely chopped, divided)
• 1-2 stalks Lemongrass
• 2-3 inch piece Galangal root (sliced, cut into small pieces)
• 4 Garlic cloves (peeled)
• 3 Thai hot chilies (optional, to taste)
• 1 3/5 tablespoons Light soy sauce
• 1 3/5 teaspoons Sugar
• 1 3/5 tablespoons Vegetable oil

Directions

1. Cut the chicken into 1/2-inch cubes. Slice the bitter melon into rings, remove the core and seeds, and cut into bite-sized pieces.
2. Finely chop the coriander stems and leaves. Cut the galangal into small pieces and peel the garlic.
3. Grind the galangal in a mortar and pestle into a rough pulp, then add the garlic and chili and grind together until well blended with no large chunks.
4. Heat the oil in a medium pot over low heat. Add the herb and chili paste and fry gently until nearly cooked, keeping the heat low to avoid burning it.
5. Add the chicken and stir into the oily herbs. Fry for about 2 minutes, until nearly done.
6. Add water to the pot (enough to cover generously) and stir well.
7. Add the soy sauce and sugar. Heat over medium heat until it starts to boil.
8. Add the bitter melon and bring back to a hard boil. Reduce to a bare simmer and cook for about 7 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the melon is fork-tender and noticeably less bitter — taste and keep cooking if it's still very bitter.
9. Turn off the heat and taste for salt, adding a little more soy sauce or a pinch of salt if needed. Stir in about half the chopped coriander, saving the rest for garnish.
10. Serve in a shared bowl or individual bowls with the chicken and melon showing on top, sprinkled with the remaining coriander.

Notes

Taste the bitter melon as it simmers rather than judging by texture alone — it mellows noticeably the longer it cooks, so a piece that still tastes sharply bitter needs more time even if it seems tender.

Substitutions

A mild red chili can replace the hot chili for color without the heat, or the chili can be left out entirely for a milder soup.