Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Every morning I decide what's going to be served for dinner that day. I don't like to have too much food on hand and I make trips to the store every other day. Maura can't understand why I don't just fill the freezer and be done for the week. Sorry love, old habits die hard. Today had to be a chicken day, and being tired of the same old pasta tricks I looked up one of my handy phone apps and found a recipe for Thai coconut chicken soup. This meal has only a few ingredients and wasn't too expensive either. Coconut milk is $1.50 per can and is the heart of the meal. It was easy to make and how I usually gauge how good homemade food tastes is as if it had been purchased from a restaurant. Well for this meal, I would have been very happy to pay for at my local Thai kitchen. Here's the recipe courtesy of Mark Bittman.


4 cups coconut milk, (2 cans)
1 cup chicken stock
1 pound chicken breast cut into strips
3 stalks lemongrass (Bristol Farms)
10 thin slices fresh ginger
2 minced fresh chile's if you like it hot
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper
chopped cilantro to garnish.


Combine milk and stock and bring to a boil, add chicken and cook for 10 Min's. Take out chicken and keep aside. Add smashed lemongrass, ginger and chile's to milk and simmer for 15 Min's. Remove these 3 last ingredients and add chicken back to milk. Add mushrooms and simmer for another 5 Min's. Turn off heat and add fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Season with salt and pepper, adjust taste with more lime or fish sauce and spoon into bowls. Garnish with fresh cilantro. I chose to add some rice on the side.





The main ingredients.



The milk being infused by the lemongrass and ginger.



Finally, ready to be eaten. I omitted the whole chilies in the main dish as I'm the only one in the family with a taste for hot spice. I just added dried chili flakes to my own plate and it worked out well.