Variation on a Theme of Tom Kha Gai

 I love soup, but TheHub is very finicky about when he will eat it, so I am making it often while the weather is cooler. And what could possibly be better on a cold night than hot spicy soup. Unfortunately not as spicy as I would like, because TheHub does not have an asbestos mouth like I have.

I found a couple of recipes but I am not a big follower of recipes, so this is just my take on the soup. I also am not a measurer so all measurements were eyeballed, but I am pretty good at eyeballing.

I will also say all the recipes I read called for galangal which I not only did not have on hand, but I have never had any. Nor do I have a clue what flavor it adds, so I left it out and used turmeric instead. Sue me!

I did not have kaffir lime leaves either, so lime zest and juice were my substitutes.

I  confess, I also have squeeze tubes of many different herbs and spice pastes in the freezer and use them often because it saves time. Knowing this, you might call this Cheaters Soup. 

Almost Tom Kha Gai

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

Put the oil in the bottom of a stock pot

Saute the onion in the oil until it is almost translucent

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cartons mushrooms cleaned and sliced

Add the garlic and mushrooms to the pot and stir until they are wilted but not browned

32 ounces chicken broth/stock (your choice)

Add to the vegetables quickly to stop the browning process.

Stir well

Add the remaining ingredients

1 can full fat coconut milk

1 boneless skinless chicken breast thinly sliced*

1 tablespoon ginger paste** (equals about and inch of fresh ginger, peeled and minced)

1/2 tablespoon lemon grass paste (about 2 or 3 fresh stalks thinly sliced)

2 tablespoons brown sugar substitute (the recipes all called for coconut sugar or brown sugar)

2 teaspoons hot red chili paste ( 1 minced jalapeño instead) 

1 teaspoon turmeric paste (not sure this added anything but color)

zest of one small lime

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons fish sauce (I will decrease this a bit next time)

2 heaping tablespoons red curry paste

Bring to a simmer and gently cook until the chicken is done. ( about 20 minutes)  Serve this deliciousness piping hot, but if you use fresh lemongrass make sure you don't eat it.

This was so good, and before we were through eating there was only about a cup full of soup left for me to have for lunch. Just typing this makes me want more. 

It is an easy, quick and delicious soup meal.

* I used 2 chicken tenders that were frozen. I let them thaw about 10 minutes and was able to slice the still icy tenders very thin.

** The links are not to affiliate products. They are just what I use