Recipes

Spicy Chicken Soup

Tom Yum Gai

Chicken and straw mushrooms in a spicy, sour lemongrass and galangal broth

Prep

5 min

Cook

10 min

Serves

4

Heat

hot

Tom Yum is meant to be made fresh and tasted as it goes, and this chicken version follows that same approach: lemongrass and galangal simmer first to build the aromatic base, then chicken and mushrooms cook directly in that broth before the final seasoning goes in in careful stages. Tamarind, lime, fish sauce, and a spoonful of smoky roasted chili sauce all get added and tasted incrementally, since the right balance of spicy, sour, and salty depends on judgment rather than a fixed formula. It's a soup built for a single sitting rather than a pot that sits on the stove, meant to be seasoned right up until it tastes exactly the way you want it.

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups Boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into chunky bite-sized pieces)
• 1 1/3 cups Straw mushrooms (halved)
• 3 stalks Lemongrass (bottom and top trimmed, cut on a diagonal, cracked)
• 7 slices Galangal root (sliced 1/4 inch thick)
• 5 Kaffir lime leaves (torn into pieces, some sliced thin for garnish)
• 7 Garlic cloves (peeled and crushed)
• 8 Thai hot chilies (lightly bruised, or chopped fine for extra heat)
• 2 2/3 tablespoons Thai roasted chili sauce (nam prik pao) (to taste)
• 5 1/3 teaspoons Sugar (to taste)
• 5 1/3 teaspoons Tamarind paste (to taste)
• 5 1/3 teaspoons Fresh lime juice (to taste)
• 5 1/3 teaspoons Fish sauce (to taste)
• 2 2/3 teaspoons Salt (to taste)

Directions

1. Cut the chicken into chunky bite-sized pieces. Halve the mushrooms. Squeeze the limes. Peel and crush the garlic.
2. Slice the galangal. Trim the bottom and top of the lemongrass, cut on a diagonal into pieces, then lightly crack with a knife handle or pestle.
3. Remove the center stems from the kaffir lime leaves and tear into pieces, slicing a little into thin slivers for garnish.
4. Remove the stems from the chilies and bruise them lightly to release flavor while keeping them mostly whole for a milder soup, or chop fine for extra heat.
5. Boil the lemongrass and galangal in water for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chili and boil for about 30 seconds, then stir in some of the roasted chili sauce to start — more can be added later to taste.
6. Add the chicken and stir well, bringing back to a boil.
7. Add the mushrooms and torn kaffir lime leaf pieces, and boil for about 2 minutes.
8. Stir in the tamarind paste, sugar, lime juice, and fish sauce. The chicken should be cooked through by now. Reduce heat and taste — the broth should have a balance of spicy, sour, and salty flavors. Add more roasted chili sauce, fish sauce, tamarind, or lime a little at a time until it tastes right.
9. Serve in a shared bowl or individual bowls, topped with the kaffir lime slivers and cilantro leaves. Serve with steamed rice.

Notes

Season the broth in stages, tasting after each addition, rather than adding everything at once — that's how the spicy-sour-salty balance that defines a good tom yum actually comes together.

Substitutions

Shrimp can replace the chicken for a Tom Yum Goong instead, using the same herb base and seasoning.