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Thai Chicken Soup Recipe - America's Test Kitchen
If you want a soup with less fat, it is possible to substitute light coconut milk for one or both cans of regular coconut milk. Fresh lemon grass can be omitted, but the soup will lack some complexity. Don't be tempted to use jarred or dried lemon grass-their flavor is characterless. If you want a spicier soup, add more red curry paste to taste. For a more substantial meal, serve the soup over 2 to 3 cups of cooked jasmine rice. The soup can be prepared through step 1 up to one day ahead of time and refrigerated, but it should be completed immediately before serving, as the chicken and mushrooms can easily overcook.
Thai Chicken Soup
6-8 as an appetizer, 4 as a main course
Thai chicken soup's complex flavor is largely derived from such exotica as galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, and
bird's eye chiles—ingredients most people would be hard-pressed to find at the market.
We wanted a plausibly authentic version of Thai chicken soup that could be prepared with more readily available (i.e.
supermarket) substitutions.
We started by making a classic version of the soup, then substituting one ingredient at a time. We developed an
acceptably rich and definitely chicken-flavored broth by using equal parts chicken broth and coconut milk (adding the
coconut milk in two stages: at the beginning and just before serving). We couldn't find an appropriate substitute for
lemon grass, but it proved to be easy enough to find. Our most exciting find was a "magic bullet" substitution: jarred red
curry paste includes all the exotic ingredients we were missing. Just adding a dollop at the very end of cooking and
whisking it with pungent fish sauce and tart lime juice allowed all the classic flavors to come through loud and clear.
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