chicken tom yum soup recipe (tom yum gai)

Chicken that has its own flavor and extra flavorings like roasted chili paste and plain milk added make this tom you soup is very delectable and delicious.

In the old days, in making tom you soups, galangal that has its own unpalatable flavor was added only when making fish tom yum soup to suppress the fishy smells. However, nowadays most kinds of tom yum soups always include galangal, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves to surely fill an authentic-classic tom yum flavor to the soups.

In Thai markets and supermarkets, bundles of galangal, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves that are held together with elastics are available, easily accessible, and ready to season a particular dish.

In making tom yum soups, many Thai home cooks like to add roasted chili paste and plain milk as extra seasonings. Doing this, not only makes the dishes looks white and reddish but also give a better flavor to the dishes.

Ingredients

• 300 g chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2½ cups water (or chicken stock)
  
• ½ tsp salt
• 10 thin slices galangal 
• 2 stalk lemongrass, cut into 2-inch lengths, crushed
• 3 citrus leaves (use kaffir lime leaves if available), midribs removed, torn into pieces
• 5 fresh small-size chili peppers (use bird's eye chilies if available), crushed
• 1 tbsp roasted chili paste (optional)
• 2 tbsp plain milk (optional)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp lime juice

Direction

1. Combine water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add galangal, lemongrass, citrus leaves and fresh chili peppers and cook until fragrant.
2. Add chicken and then bring to a gentle boil. Cook until chicken is fully done. Remove from heat.
3. Immediately stir in roasted chili paste, plain milk, fish sauce, and lime juice.
4. To serve, spoon into a serving bowl. Serve garnished with chopped green onion and chopped cilantro.

The quantities of roasted chili paste, plain milk, fish sauce, and lime juice can be adjusted to suit diners' tastes.