Batch and Fridge: Cooked Shredded Chicken – Tom Kha (Thai Coconut Milk Soup with Chicken)

Tom Kha Gai - Thai Coconut Milk Soup with Chicken

Besides obvious options of adding cooked, shredded chicken to pasta and salads, you can use them for practically any recipes from around the world.

So this week, I’d like to share with you some easy recipes from different countries using shredded chicken, to add different flavor in your repertoire.

One of my favorite is Tom Kha Gai…  You probably have seen or tasted it at a Thai restaurant.  If you are bored with regular chicken soup, this is a great option.  Plus it has a nice leftover makeover potential for later in the week.

Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Milk and Chicken Soup)

Ingredients:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 oz ginger (sliced)
• 2 TBS onion or shallots (chopped)
• 2 stalks lemongrass (bruised and cut in 1”)
• 1/2 ts ground turmeric
• 1c cooked, shredded chicken
• Optional: fresh sliced mushrooms or canned Straw mushroom
• 1 c heavy cream (or milk if you want to make it lighter)
• 2-3 TBS fish sauce
• 1 fresh green chili (seeded and sliced)
• lime juice to taste
• Cilantro (chopped)

Direction:

1. Heat 1 can of coconut milk until hot. Add lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, onion or shallots, shredded chicken and mushrooms. Simmer about 10-15 min.
2. Add cream, fish sauce, green chili and cook until heated. Adjust seasoning.
3. Traditionally they serve lemongrass and ginger slices in the soup in Thailand (and at Thai restaurants), but you may want to take them out at this point.
4. Serve hot with a wedge of lime and chopped cilantro.

Tips: Lemongrass can be grown very easily in your garden. you can use only bottom few inches for cooking, but cut up the rest and steep in teapot for refreshing and fragrant lemongrass tea!

You have leftover?  Great! We’ll make it over to something fabulous tomorrow… So stay tuned…

Technorati Tags: easy,fast,cooking,recipe,leftover,chicken,Thai,soup,ethnic,coconut milk