Tom Kha Gai
Also: Chicken galangal coconut soup, Tom Kha Kai
A Thai chicken soup in coconut milk perfumed with galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime, balanced sour and salty with lime and fish sauce.
Identity criteria
- 1Coconut milk forms the soup base (distinguishing it from the clear, brothy tom yum)
- 2Galangal (kha) — not ginger — is the signature aromatic the dish is named for
- 3Aromatic backbone of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf simmered into the broth
- 4Seasoned to a sour-salty balance with lime juice and fish sauce
- 5Chicken and mushrooms are the standard solids; finished with chili and coriander
Components
Mushrooms (straw or oyster)optional
Chickenessential
GalangalessentialNamesake aromatic; ginger is not a true substitute
Lemongrassessential
Kaffir lime leavesessential
Lime juiceessentialProvides the sour note
Coconut milkessentialThe defining creamy base
Fish sauceessentialSalt and umami
Fresh or dried chili, palm sugaroptional
Coriander leafoptional
Technique
- Aromatic infusion
- Bruised galangal, lemongrass and lime leaf are simmered to release fragrance into the coconut broth
- Gentle simmering of coconut milk
- Coconut milk must not boil hard or it splits and turns greasy
- Balancing at the end
- Lime and fish sauce are adjusted off the heat to hit the sour-salty-creamy balance
Form & serving
- Served
- In a bowl, often as part of a shared Thai meal
- Temperature
- Hot
- Portion
- Shared dish / main with rice
- Pairs with
- Steamed jasmine rice · Other shared Thai dishes
Character
Flavour
Texture
Smooth coconut broth with tender chicken and mushrooms
Eaten
A widely loved Thai soup eaten with rice as part of a shared meal, popular both at home and in restaurants worldwide.
When
all-year
Variations & related
Regional variations
- Tom Kha Talay · Thailand
Seafood instead of chicken
- Tom Kha Het · Thailand
Mushroom (vegetarian) version
- Tom Kha Tao Hu · Thailand
Tofu version
Related dishes
- sibling Tom Yum
The clear, brothy sour-spicy Thai soup; tom kha is its coconut-milk version
- pairs-with Jasmine rice
Standard accompaniment
Substitutions
Chicken → Seafood, tofu or mushroomsadmissible
Yields the recognized talay/tao hu/het variants
Fish sauce → Soy sauce or saltadmissible
Works for vegetarian versions, slightly less authentic
Galangal → Gingerinadmissible
Ginger gives a completely different, hotter aroma — it stops being tom kha
Coconut milk → Clear brothinadmissible
Removing the coconut base turns it into tom yum, a different soup
Common mistakes
- Substituting ginger for galangal, losing the signature aroma
- Boiling the coconut milk hard so it splits
- Skipping kaffir lime leaf or lemongrass, flattening the fragrance
- Over-souring or over-salting instead of balancing lime and fish sauce
Provenance
A classic of central Thai cuisine, the coconut-milk counterpart to the clear, sour tom yum.
References
- 1.Central Thai cuisine
Confidence: high