Excerpted from Hot Thai Kitchen: The 10th Anniversary Edition by Pailin Chongchitnant. Copyright © 2026 Pailin Chongchitnant. Cover and photography on pages x, 240–276 by Janis Nicolay. Recipe photos and portraits of the author by David Tam. Thailand photos by Art Chongchitnant. Photo on page 53 by Stephen Fortner. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
| Portions | Cook Time |
|---|---|
| 4 | 30 minutes |
Ingredients
- 2 cups (500 ml) chicken stock, unsalted
- 1 lb (450 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) coconut milk
- 1 stalk lemongrass, bottom half only, smashed and cut into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces
- 10 slices galangal, sliced into thin rounds 5 makrut lime leaves, torn into big pieces
- 2–3 Thai chilies, crushed just until broken, to taste
- 5.5 oz (155 g) straw or oyster mushrooms, torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1 1/2–2 Tbsp (22–30 ml) fish sauce
- 1 tsp packed finely chopped palm sugar 2–21/2 Tbsp (30–37 ml) lime juice
- Chopped cilantro and/or green onions, for garnish
- Jasmine rice, for serving
Directions
- To a medium pot, add the chicken stock, chicken thighs, and salt; simmer gently for 15 minutes, loosely covered, until the chicken is fork-tender.
- Add the coconut milk, lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime leaves, Thai chilies, mushrooms, 11/2 Tbsp (22 ml) of the fish sauce, and palm sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes to infuse. Note: The lemongrass, galangal, and makrut lime leaves are traditionally left in the soup, but are not meant to be eaten. You can remove them after this step or inform your guests not to eat them.
- Remove from the heat and stir in 2 Tbsp (30 ml) of the lime juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more fish sauce and/or lime juice if needed.
- Garnish the soup with chopped cilantro and/or green onions. You can pour the soup over rice, add rice to the soup bowl, or enjoy the soup on its own. This soup is usually mildly spiced, but you can break up the chilies to release more heat.
NO CHICKEN STOCK? THERE IS A SHORTCUT! You can make a quick-fix chicken stock without adding any extra cooking time. Use chicken drumettes instead of chicken thighs and cook them, in water and salt as per the instructions, along with some of the aromatics you normally use for stock. The bones in the chicken will turn the water into stock by the time the meat is tender. You can also buy bone-in thighs, debone them, then crack the bones and throw them in to simmer with the chicken.