Thai
Tom Kha Gai
Tom Kha Gai is Thai home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre and the soup. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1.25 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 27 oz coconut milk
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms
- 2 lemongrass stalks
- 6 slices galangal
- 5 kaffir lime leaves
- 3 Thai chilies
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/3 cup cilantro sprigs
How to cook it
- Bring the chicken broth to a simmer with the bruised lemongrass, galangal, torn lime leaves, and crushed chilies and steep 10 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and return to a gentle simmer.
- Add the sliced chicken and cook until nearly done, about 6 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and season with the fish sauce, lime juice, and brown sugar, tasting for a balance of salty, sour, and sweet.
- Ladle into bowls, discarding the tough aromatics, and scatter cilantro on top.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Tom Kha Gai carries fish and coconut. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | Yes | Pad See Ew with Chicken |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | Yes | Drunken Noodles with Chicken |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- High
- Protein quality
- Complete
- Food groups it covers
- Vegetables, Meat or fish, and Nuts and seeds
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Tom Kha Gai takes about 40 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. It is at its best in the fall and winter, which is when what goes into it is worth buying.
More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on chicken, coconut, and mushroom.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from the United States.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.