Thai coconut chicken soup

Thai coconut soup, tom kha gai in Thai, is a gentle, sour chicken soup simmered in coconut milk with galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. It is the mildest of the famous Thai soups: sour, salty, sweet and a little hot, with coconut milk wrapping around it all.

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Dairy freeMeatAllergens:Soy

Updated

Thai coconut soupIllustration
Time50 minCook 30 min
Pot6 bowls2.1 litres
Per bowl503 kcal17 g protein · a 350 ml bowl
Cost of the pot₪63for the pot, about ₪10 a bowl

The story of Thai coconut soup

The name tom kha gai says exactly what is in the pot: tom means to boil, kha is galangal and gai is chicken, so chicken boiled with galangal. Galangal, a relative of ginger, is the star, not ginger. Together with tom yum, the clear, hot soup, tom kha is one of the two best known Thai soups in the world, the soft, creamy sibling of the family.

In Israel, Thai soup usually means a coconut milk soup with the aromas of Thailand, and the ingredients are no longer rare: galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves are sold fresh or frozen in Asian grocers and some supermarkets. In a kosher kitchen the soup works without trouble, because coconut milk is parve, and the only change is the fish sauce: fish is not cooked together with chicken, so soy sauce and salt replace it.

What makes Thai coconut soup itself

In tom kha the aromatics are not eaten, they are infused. The lemongrass, galangal slices and lime leaves stay in the pot for their scent and are left at the side of the bowl. The coconut milk only ever simmers gently so it does not split, and the chicken goes in as thin strips and cooks for just a few minutes. The secret is at the end, off the heat: lime, salt and sugar adjusted until the four tastes, sour, salty, sweet and hot, stand in one line.

Thai coconut soup for any number of people

Change the number of people and the bowl size, and every ingredient updates in grams, with the cost, calories and protein per bowl.

Bowl size
Units
2.1litres in the pot
3Pot to use, litres
₪63Cost of the pot
₪10per bowl
503kcal per bowl
17.0g protein per bowl
IngredientAmountCost
The liquid and aromatics
Full fat coconut milk, parve, in two parts800 ml₪16
Water600 ml
Lemongrass stalks, in 5 cm pieces, bruised90 g · 3 pcs₪5.0
Fresh galangal, thinly sliced50 g₪4.0
Kaffir lime leaves, torn3 g · 8 pcs₪0.8
Small Thai chillies, lightly crushed8 g · 4 pcs₪0.1
The chicken and mushrooms
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, in thin strips600 g · 5 pcs₪21
Oyster or button mushrooms, halved250 g₪11
The balance
Soy sauce30 ml₪1.3
Salt6 g₪0.0
Palm sugar or white sugar15 g₪0.1
Limes, squeezed, about 75 ml juice180 g · 3 pcs₪3.6
Coriander leaves, to serve15 g₪0.7
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Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026. Nutrition from the ingredients in grams, before cooking.

How many calories in Thai coconut soup? Nutrition facts and calorie calculator

Change the amount of any ingredient, drop one, or pick a lighter version, and the numbers per serving update at once: calories, fat, carbs, protein, sodium and fibre.

Thai coconut soup has 144 calories per 100 ml. A 350 ml bowl made with our recipe has 503 calories: 17 g protein, 42.7 g fat and 15.2 g carbohydrates. A 250 ml cup has 360 calories.

Ingredients, for the whole recipe

  • 800 ml297 kcal per serving
  • 3 pcs15 kcal per serving
  • 50 g7 kcal per serving
  • 8 pcs0 kcal per serving
  • 4 pcs1 kcal per serving
  • 5 pcs155 kcal per serving
  • 250 g9 kcal per serving
  • 30 ml3 kcal per serving
  • 6 g0 kcal per serving
  • 15 g10 kcal per serving
  • 3 pcs6 kcal per serving
  • 15 g1 kcal per serving

What each add-on adds to Thai coconut soup

Values for the amount in the row, from the national food database.

Add-onCaloriesProtein, gFat, g
A tablespoon of oil122013.8
A slice of white bread792.50.5
A slice of challah12641.1
A side cup of cooked rice, about1823.50.3
Chicken breast, 100 g raw12022.52.6
Chicken thigh, 100 g raw12119.74.1

How to make Thai coconut soup

In cook mode the screen stays on, tap a step when it is done, and the timers run next to each step.
  1. Prepare the aromatics: strip the tough outer leaves from the lemongrass, cut it into 5 cm pieces and bruise them with the back of the knife. Slice the galangal 3 mm thick, tear the lime leaves and remove the central vein, and lightly crush the chillies.
  2. Cut the chicken thighs into strips 1 cm wide, and halve or tear the mushrooms.
  3. In a 4 litre pot, combine the water, half the coconut milk and all the aromatics. Bring to a gentle simmer, with bubbles only at the edges, and cook for 10 minutes so the aromas pass into the liquid.
  4. Add the chicken strips and cook at a gentle simmer for 8 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Do not boil hard.
  5. Add the mushrooms and the rest of the coconut milk and heat for 5 minutes, still at a gentle simmer.
  6. Add the soy sauce, salt and sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.
  7. Take off the heat and squeeze in the limes. Taste and adjust: first the sourness, then the salt, and last the sweetness.
  8. Serve at once with coriander leaves. The lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves stay in the bowl for aroma and are not eaten, and anyone who prefers can strain them out before serving.

The science of Thai coconut soup

Kitchen science

Why coconut milk splits in Thai soup

Coconut milk is an emulsion: small droplets of fat dispersed in water and protected by a thin layer of proteins. At a hard boil, and even more in the presence of acid, those proteins change shape and lose their ability to protect, the droplets merge and the fat floats. A gentle simmer and lime added off the heat keep the soup smooth.

Kitchen science

Galangal is not ginger

Galangal and ginger belong to the same family, but their chemistry differs. Ginger's heat comes from gingerol, while galangal's scent comes mainly from compounds such as cineole, which recall pine, eucalyptus and citrus. Galangal is also hard and fibrous, which is why it is cut into slices that give aroma and are not eaten.

Kitchen science

How lemongrass gives up its scent

Lemongrass's lemon scent comes mainly from citral, stored in small cells inside the stalk. Bruising with the back of a knife breaks those cells and releases it. Citral dissolves well in fat, so coconut milk is a perfect carrier for this aroma, better than water.

Kitchen science

Sour, salty, sweet and hot

The tastes in the soup affect one another. Sweetness softens the sense of sourness, salt dulls bitterness and lifts sweetness, and coconut fat coats the tongue and softens the chilli burn, because capsaicin dissolves in fat. That is why you adjust at the end, in small steps, tasting after each addition.

Thai coconut soup in every kitchen

Tom yum

The clear sibling: no coconut milk, more chilli and lime, made with chicken, fish or mushrooms. Sourer, hotter and lighter.

Vegetarian and vegan

Replace the chicken with 300 g of firm tofu in cubes and another 150 g of mushrooms, and the water with vegetable stock. The whole soup is then parve.

With fish

Replace the chicken with 500 g of white fish fillet in cubes, cooked for only 4 minutes. In this version, which is parve, you can bring back a spoonful of kosher fish sauce in place of some of the soy.

With rice noodles

Cook 250 g of thin rice noodles separately, divide them among the bowls and ladle the soup over them. The soup becomes a whole meal.

With ginger instead of galangal

When there is no galangal, fresh ginger works, but use half the amount. The taste is hotter and sweeter and lacks galangal's piney, citrus scent, so it is a good soup but not tom kha.

Common Thai coconut soup problems and how to fix them

The coconut milk split and the soup is oily

The soup boiled hard, or the lime went in while the pot was on the heat. Take it off the heat, add a spoonful or two of cold coconut milk and stir vigorously. Next time keep a gentle simmer, and add lime only off the heat.

The chicken came out tough and dry

The chicken cooked at a hard boil, or breast was used. Cut thighs into thin strips and cook for 8 minutes at a gentle simmer only. When reheating, do not boil again.

The soup is flat, with no aroma

The lemongrass was not bruised, or the aromatics did not get enough time. Next time bruise it well and infuse the aromatics for 10 minutes before the chicken. In a finished pot, more lime, a pinch of salt and torn lime leaves for a few minutes help.

My Thai soup is too hot

The chillies were crushed hard or stayed in the pot a long time. Take them out, add more coconut milk and a pinch of sugar. Next time add the chillies whole and only lightly crushed.

Someone got a lemongrass stalk in their mouth

The aromatics were left in the bowl without explanation. Tell your guests they are for aroma only, or strain the soup before serving and return the chicken and mushrooms to it.

Storing, freezing and reheating

2 days

In the fridge

1 month

In the freezer

2+4

To cool

Bring it from 60 to 21 °C within two hours and down to 5 °C within four more. Split a big pot into shallow boxes.

75 °C

Reheating

Reheat over low heat, stirring, without boiling, so the coconut milk does not split and the chicken does not dry out. After reheating add a little fresh lime, because the sourness fades in the fridge.

Nutrition of Thai coconut soup

From our recipe, per bowl and per 100 g, next to the national food database.

ServingkcalProtein, gFat, gCarbs, gFibre, g
Our recipe, a 350 ml bowl50317.042.715.24.2
Our recipe, 100 ml1444.912.24.41.2

What the ingredients of Thai coconut soup cost

What each ingredient costs in one pot, and where to buy it.

IngredientPriceIn this potWhere to buy
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, in thin strips₪35 per kg₪21Supermarket
Full fat coconut milk, parve, in two parts₪20 per litre₪16Supermarket
Oyster or button mushrooms, halved₪43 per kg₪11Greengrocer
Lemongrass stalks, in 5 cm pieces, bruised₪55 per kg₪5Asian grocer
Fresh galangal, thinly sliced₪80 per kg₪4Asian grocer (hard to find)
Limes, squeezed, about 75 ml juice₪20 per kg₪3.6Greengrocer
Soy sauce₪42 per litre₪1.3Supermarket
Kaffir lime leaves, torn₪250 per kg₪0.8Asian grocer (hard to find)
Coriander leaves, to serve₪4.9 each₪0.7Greengrocer
Small Thai chillies, lightly crushed₪13 per kg₪0.1Greengrocer
Palm sugar or white sugar₪5.5 per kg₪0.1Supermarket
Salt₪2.1 per kg₪0Supermarket

Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026, VAT included. Vegetable prices change with the season.

From the pantry: what Thai coconut soup needs

Pantry

Lemongrass stalks, in 5 cm pieces, bruised

Price and where to buy
Pantry

Soy sauce

Make Thai coconut soup a meal

Shabbat

Ready Shabbat food

Soup, hamin, mains and sides, with a quantity calculator and prices.

Plan Shabbat
Hosting

Hosting trays

9 trays to go with the soup, with a planner by number of guests.

Tray planner
Events

Catering

A whole menu in grams per guest, with a reheating table.

Menus

What to serve with Thai coconut soup

Serve in deep bowls with coriander leaves and a lime wedge, with a bowl of steamed jasmine rice on the side. Anyone who likes it hot adds sliced fresh chilli at the table.

Thai coconut soup in large quantities: events, offices and communities

How much of everything by number of guests, at a 350 ml bowl. For institutional pots, catering and community kitchens.

GuestsLitres30 l potsCost of ingredients
258.81₪262
50181₪525
100352₪1,049
200703₪2,099
5001757₪5,247

Every ingredient for any number of guests is in the calculator above: type the number of people.

Order Thai coconut soup

A ready pot for Shabbat, an event or the office, ordered ahead.

  • Cooked to order, for Shabbat, an event or the office.
  • Tell us how many people and when, and we send a quote.
  • Delivery in Tel Aviv from ₪35, free over ₪750.
Ask for a quote for Thai coconut soup

Order Thai coconut soup for a large event

Large orders in Israel and abroad: events, offices, synagogues, communities and institutions.

  • In Israel: cooked in Tel Aviv and delivered to events in the area, and to large events anywhere in the country on a quote.
  • Abroad: for communities, events and restaurants. Tell us where, how many and when, and we come back with a quote and options.
  • Institutional quantities and a shopping list for any number of guests, in the calculator above.
Ask for a large-order quote

Frequently asked questions

What is tom kha gai?

A Thai chicken soup in coconut milk with galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, seasoned at the end with lime, salt and sugar. The name means chicken boiled with galangal.

What is the difference between tom kha and tom yum?

Tom kha is cooked in coconut milk and is soft, creamy and a little hot. Tom yum is clear, with no coconut milk or very little, and it is sourer and hotter.

Is Thai coconut chicken soup kosher?

Yes. Coconut milk is parve, so it may be cooked with chicken; check that the can is marked parve. Soy sauce and salt replace the fish sauce, because a kosher kitchen does not cook fish with chicken.

Can I make Thai soup without galangal?

You can use fresh ginger, at half the amount, but the taste changes: hotter and sweeter, without galangal's piney scent. Frozen galangal is better than fresh ginger.

Where do you buy galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves?

In Asian grocers and some supermarkets, fresh or frozen. All of them freeze well, so it is worth buying enough for several pots.

Do you eat the lemongrass and galangal?

No. They are hard and fibrous and are in the soup only for aroma. Leave them at the side of the bowl, or strain the soup before serving.

How do you make vegetarian Thai coconut soup?

Replace the chicken with firm tofu and more mushrooms, and the water with vegetable stock. The rest of the recipe is the same, and the whole soup is parve and vegan.

How many calories are in Thai coconut soup?

A 350 ml bowl of Thai coconut soup made with our recipe has about 503 calories and 17 g of protein. Per 100 ml: 144 calories.

How much does it cost to make Thai coconut soup at home?

A pot of 6 bowls costs about ₪63 at Israeli shelf prices in October 2026, about ₪10 a bowl. The calculator above works it out for any number of people.

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