Trader Vic's Tom Ka Gai Soup

Ingredients

• 4 cup chicken broth
• 28 oz coconut milk (2 14-ounce cans)
• 1 cup Japanese eggplant (Diced; about 1/2 eggplant)
• 2 stalks lemongrass (Cut each stalk in half and pound to release the flavors)
• 0.25 cup lime juice
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 ginger (Strawberry-size knob; peeled and halved)
• 1 clove garlic (Minced)
• 2 tsp red curry paste
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 skinless chicken breast fillets
• 2 jalapenos (Seeded and julienned)
• 1 red chili pepper (Seeded and julienned)
• 0.333 cup green onions (Chopped; green part only)
• 6 lime wedges (For serving)

Steps

1. 1

   Cut each lemongrass stalk in half and pound the pieces with a kitchen mallet to release their flavor. Peel and halve the ginger; prepare the eggplant, garlic, jalapeños, red chili pepper, and green onions as specified in the ingredient list.

2. 2

   Combine the chicken broth, coconut milk, diced eggplant, pounded lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce, ginger, minced garlic, red curry paste, and ground coriander in a pot.

3. 3

   Add the chicken breast fillets, julienned jalapeños, and julienned red chili pepper to the soup.

4. 4

   Cook the soup for the stated 25-minute cooking time. The supplied structured recipe data does not specify the cooking temperature, whether the pot should be covered, or the precise doneness cue for the chicken.

5. 5

   Add the chopped green onion greens to the soup.

6. 6

   Before serving, fish out the lemongrass pieces and chunks of ginger so they are not eaten.

7. 7

   Serve the soup with the six lime wedges.

Notes

The structured recipe data provides the ingredient list, yield, and times but does not include complete step-by-step instructions. The source description specifically advises pounding the lemongrass to release its flavor and removing the lemongrass and ginger before serving. It also notes that Trader Vic's version uses eggplant instead of traditional straw mushrooms and thinly julienned peppers instead of Thai chili peppers.

Nutrition per serving

• soup
• main
• Thai-inspired
• coconut milk
• chicken
• spicy
• gluten-free
• dairy-free