Readers of The Bitten Word cooked every recipe in the September 2013 Bon Appetit magazine. Here's their take on Tom Kha Gai (Chicken Coconut Soup).
Natalie: Wished the soup tasted as wonderful as it smelled! The soup was easy to make and smelled absolutely delicious cooking. Finished it looked good and tasted fine but just didn't live up to the anticipation created by the simmering lemongrass, ginger and lime leaves.
Erica: Bringing the lime leaves, lemon grass, and giant piece of ginger to a boil made the house smell amazing and a little bit like a fancy spa instead of dinner! However, once it has simmered, you remove all those ingredients. I thought that was an odd choice, but I wanted to stay true to the recipe. Without garlic, onions, or chilies of any kind as ingredients the soup was pretty bland. Chili oil is drizzled over the individual dishes at the end, and boy did it need it. Also, my total bill for all the ingredients revealed this to be some very expensive soup. I’m actually embarrassed to say how much I spent on this dish.
Gloria: Made with kaffir leaves and lemongrass from my garden, this aromatic broth had the delicious hint of sweet and tart this soup is known for. I would try this again with chicken breast, as the flavor of the thighs did not go well with the broth.
Sean: The only soup I know how to make is tomato,which is really more a vegetable puree than a soup, so this recipe was a nice challenge. It also gave me a reason to buy fish sauce, which I had been meaning to do for ages. The package of chicken thighs I got was slightly larger than what was called for, so I simply increased all of the ingredients by a similar proportion (I added a bit of soy milk to supplement the can of coconut milk). Having never worked with lemongrass before, I was delighted by the fresh aroma of the stalks and of the ensuing broth. One tip for anyone who tries this recipe: When I read "large saucepan" I assumed my 3.5 quart Le Creuset would be big enough, but I eventually had to transfer the soup to a larger stockpot once all of the ingredients were involved. I didn't bother to skim very much, since I didn't see any reason to remove the delicious flavor contributed by the dark thigh meat. For this reason, I might use lite coconut milk next time, as the soup was super rich. I didn't get any complaints, but would like to cut down the calories a bit. I made my own chili oil by heating some safflower oil and a couple of teaspoons of chili flakes in a small, heavy pan for about 5-10 minutes. If you're not a big fan of heat, just pour the oil off the top, leaving most of the chili flakes in the pan. Don't skip the chili oil; it adds a beautiful color and a nice contrast to the creaminess of the soup.
Sharon: This recipe was out of my comfort zone, that being said it went way beyond my expectations. It was easy to prepare, introduced me to new ingredients..such as lemongrass, and had great layers of flavor.
Liz: The soup was delicious, and even better the next day once the flavors had more time to meld. I would definitely make it again, but I think it needed a bit more fish sauce, maybe some sriracha, and something to give it more texture (e.g., fresh corn or sprouts) as a contrast to the poached chicken and mushrooms.
Lizzy: We liked this quite a bit! Perhaps we will make less next time, and maybe not use lemon grass as we found it a bit overwhelming. Nonetheless, a great treat and a serious eat!
Natasha: The aroma captured me right away...ginger, lime (I went with the lime zest/lime juice combo) and lemongrass. It was a bit time consuming, but worth the effort! And an added bonus: thanks to our international markets in Atlanta, the ingredients were easy to find and reasonably priced. Served with spring rolls to round out the meal. This was so much fun!
Get the Tom Kha Gai (Chicken Coconut Soup) recipe at Bon Appétit