Tom Kha Gai {Thai Coconut Soup}

You will also want a really good quality fish sauce for any Thai dish you’re making. Red Boat Fish Sauce company is the only one on the mainstream market that is both Paleo and SCD/GAPs legal. It’s aged 12-16 months and comes directly from Vietnam. They bottle only pure first press “extra virgin” fish sauce so you get an extract that is made of just two all natural ingredients: fresh wild caught anchovy and sea salt. For years I used Thai Kitchen fish sauce and looked past the sugar in the ingredient list, but I’ve tasted the two side by side now and notice a huge difference.

Ingredients (serves 4)

1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
1/8 teaspoon Thai dried chiles, finely ground*
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 cans full fat coconut milk
2 inch piece of Galangal, skin on and thinly sliced (fresh Ginger will work too)*
1 stalk lemon grass, sliced diagonally into 3-4 pieces and slightly bruised/flattened with a mallet or butt of a knife*
8 kaffir lime leaves*
4 tablespoons fish sauce
2 cups chicken breast, very thinly sliced
1 cup white button mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 tablespoon coconut sugar (honey will work too, but coconut sugar will taste the most authentic)
8 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
fresh cilantro and scallions for serving

*All of the starred items can be purchased dried in a jar by the brand Thai Kitchen

Directions

Melt the coconut oil in a soup or stock pot, then add the ground chiles and stir for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.

Pour in the coconut milk and bring to boil. Add the chicken stock, galangal, lemon grass, kaffir leaves, fish sauce, and chicken and simmer for 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Add the mushrooms, lime juice, coconut sugar, tomatoes and simmer for another 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender but not mushy.

Serve with fresh cilantro and scallions.