Tom Kha Gai Noodle Soup

Tom kha gai is one crazy tasty bowl of creamy delicious Thai chicken soup. This is sort of that recipe. But not quite.

Confused? Understandable. Think tom kha gai. Add the satisfying slurp of noodles. That’s everything good. In one big bowl of delicious noodle soup. That’s what this is.

The gentle heat of Thai red curry. The sour tang of lime leaf. Tender bits of chicken. And rice noodles. All wrapped up in creamy coconut milk. Irresistible.

This is a story about the noodle dish that wasn’t. But should have been. I really don’t get why this one isn’t huge.

Some day I’ll serve this at my imaginary food truck. And my imaginary customers will line up as far as the eye can see.

Balanced – in that magical south East Asian way

Tom kha gai noodle soup hits you from all directions. Bit of a flavour bomb. A lot of things going on.

Hot. Sour. Salty. Sweet. In balance. Those four flavours shape south east Asian cuisine. At least that’s what I think of when I cook food from this part of the world.

It’s not the whole story. But it is a big part. Often helps me find my way. Culinary guard rails really.

Goes like this. Hmmm… Something’s not quite right. Stop. Taste. One of the four need tweaking? Adjust. Taste again. That thinking has saved me more than once.

This one is a perfect example. It’s hot. Sour. Salty. And a little bit sweet.

Noodling on tom kha gai

This is where I’d normally tell you a story about the history of tom kha gai noodle soup.

How it dates back to the 13th century. Invented for a banquet at the court of King Ramkhamhaeng.

I’d say this is a recipe handed down generation to generation by the chosen ones. The tom kha gai noodle soup secret society. An organization that has kept the faith for a thousand years.

Except that tom kha gai noodle soup doesn’t exist. It’s not a thing. Not yet anyway. But I think it will. Someday. Somehow. This one is too good to contain.

To be fair – the only reason I know is because I went to lunch with a couple of buddies. They both ordered tom kha gai noodle soup.

I asked for a spoonful. Just a little taste of broth. Put it into my mouth. And my world exploded…

Authenticity score 2. Deliciousness score 9. That’s OK with me. Delicious trumps authentic. Every. Single. Time.

So I don’t care. And I’m guessing you won’t either. One spoonful of this broth. And you will know.

Restaurant hacks for the win

Truly great Thai restaurants make their own pastes from scratch. The rest of them use stuff they can buy. Turns out you can buy the same stuff.

Weeknight dinner meets restaurant hack. Easy. Seriously tasty. The ideal formula for weeknights. Fast in a restaurant. And fast in your kitchen.

Thai red curry paste. That’s the first piece of the puzzle. You can get it just about anywhere. And you can use it all over the place.

Thai red chicken curry. Obviously. Seriously amazing pork burgers. Slide a bit into a stir fry. Toss it with green beans for a spicy side. It’s handy stuff to have around.

Tom yum paste for the win

Traditional tom kha gai calls for galangal, lemongrass, chilies and kaffir lime leaves. That’s a trip to an Asian grocer. And a lot of work. Every time you want this soup.

Or you can go to the Asian grocer once. Buy a jar of tom yum paste. Hot and sour soup paste. Has all the ingredients built in.

No shopping. No chopping. And no grinding. Just open up a jar and go. Easy. And I genuinely like it. Even though it’s from a jar.

Purists will stop reading now. I respect that. But that makes me a bit sad. Because they will miss out. Or make it on a weekend I guess. Without the noodles I bet.

But I’ll eat mine on a Tuesday. With noodles. I’ll serve it to friends on Saturday. And I’ll sleep well. With a full belly. And a smile on my face.

Use tom yum paste here. Make tom yum soup . Or just mix it with some boiling water in a mug for a salty sour treat. It’s tasty stuff. And it keeps forever.

A hint of sweet

I don’t have a sweet tooth. My dentist checked. So it took me a long time to learn a very important lesson.

A bit of sugar in a savoury dish can be amazing. Transformative. As little as a teaspoon can completely change a dish.

I can’t describe it. You have to taste it to understand. Sugar has a super power. It can take a savoury dish from really good to incredible. Culinary alchemy.

This is one of those times. Without sugar this dish has a great balance of savoury, spicy and sour. You would think that would be enough.

Turns out it’s not. It’s tasty. But it doesn’t quite hang together. It’s just a bit too jangly.

Add a little sugar and everything changes. The flavours come together. Complex. And harmonious.

Try one teaspoon to start. That keeps things subtle. Does the trick without anyone realizing.

Two teaspoons is right for me. Not sweet. But noticeable. If you know what to taste for.

The restaurant I stole this recipe from uses more. A lot more. It starts to get noticeably sweet at around a tablespoon.

I can’t tell you what’s right for you. You’ll need to creep up on it and decide for yourself.

Great noodles for great noodle soup

This is a noodle soup. So the noodles are important. Really important. Which means you need to nail them.

Rice noodles can be tricky. Underdone rice noodles are hard. Just terrible. Overdone rice noodles are mushy. Slightly less terrible.

When you nail them they are great. It’s not hard. You just need to pay attention.

Ignore the package

Step one. Don’t read the instruction on the package. Seriously. I think water must boil at a different temperature in Thailand. All I ever get is pure mush.

Step two. Make everything else first. Chicken poached and sliced or shredded. Broth simmering on the stove. Garnishes at the ready. Serving bowls at hand.

Step three. Understand every brand is different. That’s important. You will need to learn your brand. It’s super annoying. But it’s a fact. At least now you know.

Bring a big pot of water with a strainer to a roiling boil. Or have your oven mitts handy. You are setting up for how you normally cook pasta.

Add the noodles. Cook for 30 seconds. If they are still hard cook them another 30 seconds. You are going for toothy. A little bite. A bit of chew. That’s perfect.

Noodles straight into a bowl. Hot broth ladled overtop. Chicken and garnish next. Hustle. Shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds total for two servings. A minute max.

Eat. Smile. Repeat once a week or as needed to keep smiling.

I’ve written this pretty much how they serve it at the restaurant I’m ripping off. Chicken. Broth. Noodles. Simple garnishes.

But there’s no reason not to play with this one. If you like it hot add a bit of fresh sliced red chili. The flavour profile will fit right in.

Shiitake mushrooms work great. Just make sure they’re cooked before they go in. Enoki mushrooms work too. Those can go in raw.

Anything that works with tom yum works. Anything that works with red Thai curry works. This one is a canvas awaiting your inspiration.

Shop once – make tom kha gai noodle soup often

I like complicated recipes. I go the distance every chance I get. But I live in the same inconvenient world you do.

The world with Tuesday nights. With busy schedules. Nights I stop to consider ordering highly overpriced takeout that never fails to disappoint.

Which is why I love this recipe. My kind of busy weeknight dinner.

Tom kha gai noodle soup is fast. And easy. Really tasty stuff. And almost no work at all. Especially if you poach your chicken ahead of time.

It’s tasty. It’s dead easy. Takes a couple slightly oddball ingredients. I get that. But those ingredients are versatile. And they keep forever.

Try tom kha gai noodle soup

This one is a little out there in left field. A dish that doesn’t exist. Not yet anyway.

But if enough of us start making it. And we tell our friends. And they make it. Then tell their friends. Then maybe the world will listen.

And then we can order it when we go out for lunch. Or maybe even get it for weeknight takeout. Takeout that doesn’t suck. That would be something.

If you like Asian noodle soups. And if you like Thai flavours. Then I’m guessing you will surprise yourself with tom kha gai noodle soup. Weeknight dinners don’t have to suck.

Tom kha gai

Ingredients

• 12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast – or thighs
• 19 oz coconut milk – that’s not the secret amount that leads to success. That’s the size of a can where I live. 20 oz is fine 17.3 ounces is also fine.
• 19 oz chicken stock – low or no sodium added. Just pour it into the coconut milk can to measure it out.
• 1 tbsp thai red curry paste – store bought is fine
• 1 tsp tom yum paste – available at Asian grocers
• 2 tsp palm sugar – brown sugar works too. Note that you can add more sugar. I just like it less sweet. A tablespoon is noticeable though so don’t go crazy
• 8 oz rice noodles – banh pho
• sliced shallots, sliced green onions, lime wedges – to garnish

Instructions

• Bring a pot of water large enough to cook the rice noodles to a boil
• Wisk the stock and coconut milk together and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken breasts (or thighs) to the liquid and simmer gently until they reach 160F for white (breast) or 170F for dark (thigh). Set aside to rest.
• Strain the liquid if desired and return to the pot. Your call. The broth will have little bits in it. If that bothers you then strain. If you don’t care then don’t.
• Return the broth to a simmer. Add the red Thai curry and tom yum pastes into a bowl. Ladle in a little of the coconut milk broth and mix to combine. Trust me – it’s worth the extra dishes so you don’t have to chase bits of curry paste around in the pot.
• Add the red curry/tom yum mixture back into the coconut milk broth along with 2 tsp of brown or palm sugar. Taste. If you like things a little sweeter add another tsp of sugar. If you want things saltier add a bit of fish sauce. You probably won’t need it.
• Creep up on both the salt and sugar. Adding more is easy. Taking it away is impossible.
• Slice or shred your chicken. Sliced if you want things pretty. Shredded if you like bigger bites. Sliced makes for nicer pictures but I like shredded better.
• Add the rice noodles to the boiling water. Check after 30 seconds. If they are still toothy let them go another 30 seconds and check again. You want a bit of chew to the noodles.
• When you are happy with your noodles, drain and divide into two large bowls.
• If you sliced and are going for pretty then fan the chicken over the noodles and pour the broth overtop. If you shredded then the chicken can go in when you like.
• Garnish with your choice of sliced shallots, sliced green onion and lime. Enjoy!

Tom kha gai

Ingredients

• 12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast - or thighs
• 19 oz coconut milk - that’s not the secret amount that leads to success. That’s the size of a can where I live. 20 oz is fine 17.3 ounces is also fine.
• 19 oz chicken stock - low or no sodium added. Just pour it into the coconut milk can to measure it out.
• 1 tbsp thai red curry paste - store bought is fine
• 1 tsp tom yum paste - available at Asian grocers
• 2 tsp palm sugar - brown sugar works too. Note that you can add more sugar. I just like it less sweet. A tablespoon is noticeable though so don’t go crazy
• 8 oz rice noodles - banh pho
• sliced shallots, sliced green onions, lime wedges - to garnish

Instructions

• Bring a pot of water large enough to cook the rice noodles to a boil
• Wisk the stock and coconut milk together and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken breasts (or thighs) to the liquid and simmer gently until they reach 160F for white (breast) or 170F for dark (thigh). Set aside to rest.
• Strain the liquid if desired and return to the pot. Your call. The broth will have little bits in it. If that bothers you then strain. If you don’t care then don’t.
• Return the broth to a simmer. Add the red Thai curry and tom yum pastes into a bowl. Ladle in a little of the coconut milk broth and mix to combine. Trust me - it’s worth the extra dishes so you don’t have to chase bits of curry paste around in the pot.
• Add the red curry/tom yum mixture back into the coconut milk broth along with 2 tsp of brown or palm sugar. Taste. If you like things a little sweeter add another tsp of sugar. If you want things saltier add a bit of fish sauce. You probably won’t need it.
• Creep up on both the salt and sugar. Adding more is easy. Taking it away is impossible.
• Slice or shred your chicken. Sliced if you want things pretty. Shredded if you like bigger bites. Sliced makes for nicer pictures but I like shredded better.
• Add the rice noodles to the boiling water. Check after 30 seconds. If they are still toothy let them go another 30 seconds and check again. You want a bit of chew to the noodles.
• When you are happy with your noodles, drain and divide into two large bowls.
• If you sliced and are going for pretty then fan the chicken over the noodles and pour the broth overtop. If you shredded then the chicken can go in when you like.
• Garnish with your choice of sliced shallots, sliced green onion and lime. Enjoy!

Move over bolognese. Sorry. I found something better. And that something is pork ragu.

That’s a bold statement. I know. Bolognese is a classic. One of the greats. Adored by zillions. Maybe more. It’s entirely possible that I’m alone on this one.

But I don’t think so. That’s why I’m poking at the most famous pasta sauce of all time. I truly believe pork ragu that good.

There’s amazing depth of flavour here. Complexity. This is one seriously satisfying pasta sauce.

This is my kind of food. If you’re here I’m guessing it might be your kind of food too.

Pork or beef?

Confession time. Bolognese has always been a bit of a mystery to me. Which is odd. I know.

It’s billed as the epitome of meat and pasta. And yet somehow I am not at one with it. I want to love it. But I can’t.

I’m not saying it isn’t great. I’m just saying it isn’t great for me.

I’ve tried hard to come up with a version that impresses me. Really hard in fact. Like my whole life hard.

Beef. Beef and pancetta. Tomatoes. Tomato paste. Both. Ground pork and pancetta with beef. Red wine. White wine. Milk. No milk. I’ve tried it all.

A lifetime making big pots of nothing special. That’s where I wound up. Never terrible. Some pots better than others. But never truly great.

Somewhere along the journey I learned about Neapolitan ragu . And Neapolitan ragu brought me to pork ragu. I call that a win. A huge win in fact.

Sometimes good things just happen

Another confession. I didn’t work hard on this recipe. No experimentation. I totally fell into this recipe. This one is just blind luck.

I bought a rack of spares. In the dead of winter. In Canada. Smoker under 2 feet of snow. Not the smartest move. I know.

Found myself staring into the fridge wondering what to make. And I thought of pasta amatriciana . Pork and tomato. So I just went for it.

And it worked. Really, really well.

Pork ragu is about simplicity

Sometimes less is more. This is one of those times. There’s not a lot to this recipe. Pork ribs. Tomatoes. Italian sausage. Onion. Salt. That’s it. For real.

Five ingredients. Up against around twenty in bolognese. Doesn’t seem like a fair fight. And yet pork ragu wins. Decisively. I think anyway.

Five ingredients is actually why this recipe works so well. There is no confusion on the palate.

Pork and tomato compete for the dominant flavour. It’s hard to decide what comes out on top.

Maybe it’s tomato tempered by pork. Maybe it’s pork lightened with tomato. Doesn’t really matter.

What matters is the flavours play against each other. In a way that has you coming back for more.

It’s really not fair to compare pork ragu to bolognese. Bolognese is an almost entirely meat sauce. With just a hint of tomato. It’s a dark, brooding kind of dish.

Pork ragu is different. Bright. Brash. Exuberant. With a depth of flavour that just goes on and on and on.

The power of the braise

Ribs are dead easy to cook if you treat them right. Tender. Juicy. Incredibly satisfying. One of my favourite things in the world to eat.

Everybody knows barbecue. Toss some ribs in a smoker for half a day. That’s famous for a reason.

Then there’s the one you might not think about. Braising. Braising ribs works incredibly well.

There’s magic in braising ribs. The line between the meat and tomato blurs.

So you don’t know where the meat ends and the sauce starts. You really have to taste it to understand.

Mild Italian sausage brings the seasoning

This one may seem a little counter-intuitive. Or absolutely insane. Depends on your perspective.

There are no herbs in this recipe. No oregano. No basil. Nothing. Except Italian sausage.

That’s a little glebekitchen heresy. Sausage as a seasoning. You say crazy. I say inspired.

I have heard crazy people don’t know they’re crazy though. So maybe you’re right. What I do know is sausage makes pork ragu amazing.

It has to be Italian sausage. Bratwurst doesn’t cut it. Chorizo is all wrong. The spicing needs to be Italian.

And you can’t leave it out. The flavours from the sausage are a big part of why pork ragu works. No sausage. No point. Seriously. Just don’t bother.

Pork ragu many ways

This is no one trick pony. It’s great as a pasta sauce. I wanted to do a big tagliatelle for dinner. But I was out. And it was late. So I went spaghetti.

Tagliatelle would be better. But spaghetti worked pretty well. Rigatoni would work really well too. A little parmigiano or pecorino and some pepper. Seriously tasty.

Lasagna with pork ragu and fresh mozzarella? Absolutely killer. The creaminess of the fior up against the richness of the pork. Serious yum.

It’s amazing with good quality gnocchi too. Boil the gnocchi until it floats, then toss it with a good amount of pork ragu.

Top with a healthy sprinkle of your favourite cheese and bake it off for 10 minutes. That one is getting made a lot here lately.

Please try pork ragu

I get this one is a little different. Not something anyone’s ever heard of. A little weird even.

But it is just so good. So I’m asking you to make a leap. You won’t be sorry.

I may never bother trying another meat ragu ever again. Except Neapolitan ragu. You really should give that one a go as well. Lots of pork in that one too.

This one is my new favourite. And I’m hoping it might turn out to be yours as well. If it does please make it for friends. For family. So they discover it too.

And maybe someday it’ll be a thing.

Pork ragu

Ingredients

• 4 lbs pork side ribs aka spares or spare ribs
• 3 pork sausages you want mild or hot Italian here
• 1 large onion finely diced
• 3 28 oz canned whole tomatoes go for good quality here. Or use a decent passata (see note). Either way read the ingredients. If your tomatoes have salt in the ingredient list you will need to adjust the salt in this recipe downwards.
• 1 6 oz tomato paste the thick stuff
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt plus more to taste. Probably another tsp at least.

Instructions

Broil your ribs

• There’s flavour in brown. Trim your ribs so they fit onto a sheet pan (or whatever else you can make work). Arrange them meaty side up along with any meat you’ve had to trim. Season liberally with salt.
• Broil them until they are nicely browned on one side. This is a critical step so don’t skip it. It’s a bit of a hassle but it’s way easier than trying to brown ribs in a pot.
• Remove the ribs from the oven, let cool and slice into two ribs pieces. Two rib pieces because they are just easier to manoeuvre than individual ribs. I’ve tried it both ways. Trust me. Set aside.
• Set your oven to 325F.

Prep your tomatoes

• Read the ingredients on your tomato can. If salt is listed then you are going to need to be careful with how much salt you add.
• Pass the tomatoes and their juices through a food mill. If you don’t have a food mill use passata.

Make the sauce

• Heat a large (the ribs are going to have to fit large) pot over medium low heat.
• Add the diced onion and cook gently until the onions are translucent and soft. You don’t want brown here. And for sure you don’t want little dark brown (almost burned) bits.
• Add the tomato paste, stir and cook gently for a minute or two.
• Add the tomatoes or passata and two teaspoons of kosher salt. If you use regular table salt a teaspoon and a bit will give the same results. Don’t over salt. And if your tomatoes contain salt in the ingredients cut then cut this by half and adjust at the end.
• Bring to a simmer and add the reserved pork ribs. They may not quite all fit under the surface of the tomato sauce. That’s OK. We’ll fix that later.
• When the pot of soon to be amazing comes back to a simmer cover tightly and transfer to the oven. You remembered to pre-heat the oven right?
• Wait an hour. Go for a walk. Watch the game. Do what you need to do.
• After an hour grab a big bowl and remove the pot from the oven. It’s time to rearrange the ribs to the ones that were above the surface of the liquid are now submerged.
• Good tongs are your best friend in the kitchen. If it’s just a couple pieces just rearrange. Should be easy. If there are a bunch then the ribs that were above the surface and put them on one side of the bowl. Take a roughly equivalent amount of the ribs that were submerged and put them on the other side of the bowl.
• Return the ones that were above the surface back into the pot and then dump the rest of the contents of the bowl on top.
• Cover and return to the oven. Time to wait another hour.
• After the ribs have been cooking two hours total check them. They should be tender. Shreddable. If they aren’t there yet return the pot to the oven for another 15 minutes and check again. I can’t tell you exactly how long this is going take. I don’t know how thick your ribs are. I don’t know how accurate your oven is. You want tender. You’ll know when you get there. If you aren’t sure they probably aren’t done.
• When your ribs are meltingly tender, transfer the pot to the stove. Remove the ribs from the sauce. Have a look at your sauce. There will be fat pooling on the surface. Remove as much as you can and discard. Don’t be too worried about leaving a bit in the pot. Fat tastes good.
• Let the ribs cool until you can comfortably handle them then remove the meat from the bones, shredding it into little bits as you go. It should just sort of smush easily in your hands (I did say tender). Set the meat aside. Discard the bones.
• Add the whole sausages into the pot. Bring to a very gentle simmer on the stove and cook until an instant read thermometer reads 160F or you believe they are mostly done. This should take around 15 minutes but check them after 10 to see what’s going on. Don’t worry about perfect. Everything cooks a little more.
• Remove the sausages from the sauce and let cool until you can handle them comfortably. Cut the sausages up into 1/4 inch pieces.
• Return the diced sausage and shredded pork to the pot, bring to a simmer and cook for another 20 minutes or so.
• Have a look in the pot. Your sauce is likely pretty thick at this point. Dilute with about a cup of water or chicken stock. You want it saucy. Not crazy saucy. But saucy. How much liquid you need will be a function of how tightly sealed your pot was.
• Taste and adjust the salt. You will need at least another teaspoon of kosher salt (or half as much table salt). I wound up at almost 4 teaspoons of kosher salt total in my last batch. For table salt that would be about 2 teaspoons.
• Serve with spaghetti or tagliatelle or rigatoni. Or make a baked gnocchi or a killer lasagna. Or just put some in a bowl and eat it with crusty bread. Try not to eat it all out of the pot with a spoon. It’s really that good…

Notes