Ingredients
- 3 cups (750 ml) store-bought or homemade Mom’s Chicken Stock
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced into thin coins
- 2 stalks lemongrass (use the bottom 6-in/15-cm of the stalk, smash with side of cleaver or cut in half lengthwise)
- 4 fresh kaffir lime leaves, torn in half
- 1 fresh chilli pepper of your choice, sliced
- 1 cup (250 ml) good quality coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons tom yum paste (or to taste), divided
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 6 oz (170 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
- 1 cup (70 g) straw mushrooms, rinsed, drained and sliced in half lengthwise
- 1½ tablespoons lime juice
- One small handful of fresh cilantro (coriander) leaves (about ¼ cup/12 g), for garnish
How to Make It
- In a pot, add the stock, ginger, lemon-grass, kaffir lime leaves and chilli pepper and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, half of the tom yum paste, the fish sauce and sugar, and let that return to a boil, still on low heat. Taste the soup and add the remaining tom yum paste as per your taste. If you’d like, use a skimmer to fish out the ginger, chilli, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves and discard.
- Turn the heat to high and add the chicken and mushrooms. When the soup returns to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. Garnish with the fresh cilantro leaves and additional slices of chilli pepper, if you like.
