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Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

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Tom Yum Gai (Thai Hot and Sour Chicken Soup)

[heart_this] · Apr 26, 2013 · 17 Comments

Tom Yum Gai (Thai Hot and Sour Chicken Soup)

A Thai style hot and sour chicken soup filled with plenty of fresh herbs.

One of my favourite things to order at Thai restaurants is soups as they are always so vibrant, fresh and tasty! As it turns out they are also really easy to make at home with just a few exotic ingredients that you should be able to easily find at a local Asian grocery store. This chicken soup balances spicy, sour, salty and sweet elements with a focus on the spicy and sour provided by the chilies and lime juice. Of course this soup is finished off with plenty of fresh herbs including kaffir lime leaves and cilantro. Whether you are looking for a warming soup for cooler days of a light soup for warmer days, this soup fits the bill nicely!

Tom Yum Gai (Thai Hot and Sour Chicken Soup)
For those that like it spicier, the addition of chili oil or nam prik pao is really nice. If you want to make the soup a more substantial, a little bit more like chicken noodle soup, you can add rice noodles and extra vegetables like carrots, celery or mushrooms.

Tom Yum Gai (Thai Hot and Sour Chicken Soup)

Tom Yum Gai (Thai Hot and Sour Chicken Soup)

Tom Yum Gai (Thai Hot and Sour Chicken Soup)

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Servings: 2

A Thai style hot and sour chicken soup filled with plenty of fresh herbs.

ingredients
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 shallots, sliced thinly
  • 2 stalks lemongrass, sliced thinly
  • 4 kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly
  • 2 birds eye chilis, thinly sliced
  • 1 inch piece galangal or ginger, sliced thinly
  • 1/2 pound chicken breast
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon palm or brown sugar
  • chili oil to taste
  • cilantro to taste
directions
  1. Bring the chicken broth, water, shallots, lemongrass, lime leaves, chilis, galangal and chicken to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 15-20 minutes.
  2. Remove the chicken from the broth, shred it and return it to the broth.
  3. Season the broth with the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar, taste testing for a balance of sour, salty, sweet and spicy.
  4. Serve garnished with cilantro to taste.
Similar Recipes:
Tom Yum Goong Soup (Thai Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup)
Traditional Chinese Hot and Sour Soup
Tom Yum Baked Fish
Chicken Noodle Soup
Avgolemono Soup
Thai Peanut Chicken Noodle Soup
Quick and Easy Chinese Hot and Sour Soup
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Colombian Chicken and Corn Soup (Ajiaco)
Chicken Fajita Soup
Creamy White Chicken Chili
Pozole Verde de Pollo (Green Mexican Hominy and Chicken Soup)
Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
Slow Cooker Thai Basil Chicken Curry
Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Looking for more soup recipes?

Chicken, Food, Gluten-free, Recipe, Soup, Thai

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sommer @ ASpicyPerspective says

    April 26, 2013 at 11:13 pm

    Incredible combination of different flavors! Great job! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Tieghan says

    April 27, 2013 at 12:16 am

    Kevin! This looks so so good! I love all thai, but have never had thai soup! Love these flavors!

    Reply
  3. Chantale Perron says

    April 27, 2013 at 12:32 am

    I'm gonna make it, but….without the chili. I'm allergic!( or my body can't stand it, especially my heart)
    It looks delicious!

    Reply
  4. Anne ~ Uni Homemaker says

    April 27, 2013 at 12:35 am

    Oh YUM, this looks so delicious! I can't find birds eye chilis where I'm at. Can you recommend another chili as a substitute? Serrano? Jalapeno?

    Reply
  5. Foodycat says

    April 27, 2013 at 9:17 am

    I believe tom yum is traditionally served with rice – you have a spoonful of soup as flavouring for the rice. That's certainly my favourite way to eat it.

    Reply
  6. Danielle Miller says

    April 27, 2013 at 3:16 pm

    my favorite soup!

    Reply
  7. kevin says

    April 27, 2013 at 3:47 pm

    Anne ~ Uni Homemaker: Red or green jalapenos would be nice, or nam prik pao or even sriracha to taste.

    Reply
  8. Lucy Chapman says

    April 30, 2013 at 9:25 am

    This looks so good, I've only made an Asian soup once and it didn't go quite to plan, might have to give it another go.

    Lucy Loves To Cook

    Reply
  9. Andie says

    June 9, 2013 at 5:27 am

    Wow! This looks so good. I'm always interested to try new taste of food. I can see it has quite a number of ingredients there, but the cooking seems fairly easy. Definitely worth giving it a try.. Thanks for the recipe

    Reply
  10. Hansu says

    June 27, 2013 at 10:24 pm

    Definitely going to try this one! The only problem is that I can't find any fresh kaffir lime leaves where I live. Would it be okay to use dried ones or maybe just ordinary lime leaves?

    Reply
  11. kevin says

    June 28, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    Hansu: The easiest substitute for the kaffir lime leaves would probably be lime zest. I would skip the dried kaffir lime leaves and I have not used regular but I imagine that they would work. If you do end up finding some kaffir lime leaves, they keep well in the freezer so you can save them for later user for quite some time.

    Reply
  12. Anonymous says

    January 7, 2014 at 1:59 am

    Just made this for dinner, substituted lime zest for the kaffir lime leaves as I didn't have any….it was really delicious!! Will definitely make this over and over again!

    Reply
  13. Anonymous says

    May 28, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    Kevin – just cooked this. Brilliant flavour – thanks for posting this.

    Reply
  14. Stefanie says

    January 12, 2020 at 11:35 am

    This is the easiest and fastest way I’ve ever made this soup. I added Gochujang and mushrooms. I bet it would be good with shrimp as well.

    Reply
  15. ROBIN says

    January 18, 2022 at 10:42 pm

    YOO MATE, WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE AWHSOME SOUP BOWLS HOLDING THE CHOP STICKS, THOSE ARE COOL FOR MY NIGHT OF SHARING YOUR RECIPES?
    CHEERS,
    ROBIN

    Reply
    • kevin says

      January 24, 2022 at 11:44 am

      I think I found those at a Winners or a HomeSense.

      Reply
  16. Kim says

    January 23, 2022 at 9:56 pm

    Instead of sugar, I used monk fruit. Works great and does not spike blood sugar.

    Reply

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Kevin: I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.
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