- 1 whole chicken
- 3 carrots
- 1 large onion
- 4 stalks celery
- 2 cans coconut milk
- 5-8 kaffir lime leaves
- 6-10 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
- 2 stalks lemongrass, cut on bias into 2 inch long pieces
- 1/2 inch piece of galangal, or ginger root
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 medium onion
- 8-15 small thai chilies
- 2-3 cups mushrooms (straw, portobello, white, whatever you like)
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 8-10 limes
- 3 tablespoons unhydrogenated coconut oil
This soup literally takes all day long to make, because I make the chicken stock in the morning and then put the soup together in the afternoon. This offers the highest health benefit, because the chicken fat and marrow are infused into the stock. You can use canned/boxed chicken stock, but you won’t get anywhere near the health benefits supplied by this longer version. This soup will cure your cold and revitalize your energies. (The stock can be made ahead of time and frozen, which can save a lot of time).
In the morning: put whole chicken (including skin) into a large pot. Chop carrots, celery and one onion and toss these in the pot with the chicken. Let cook for 3-4 hours. Remove chicken from the pot, put it on a huge plate and put in the refrigerator to cool. Strain the stock (through a colander), and place to the side, or in the refrigerator.
In the afternoon: Peel galangal or ginger. Cut into small pieces. Peel onion and cut into large pieces. Peel garlic cloves. Puree galangal, onion and garlic in a food processor. Put a large pot on medium high heat. Add coconut oil and give it a few seconds to warm up. Toss pureed mixture into pan. Stir and turn heat down to medium. Allow onions to achieve a light caramel color. Add chicken stock, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, thai chilies. Let this cook for two hours, so that all the flavors will infuse into the stock. Add water as necessary to keep the original level. While this is cooking, use a fork to remove the chicken from the bone and set aside.
To finish soup, add chicken, mushrooms and fishsauce. While this cooks, juice the limes (Using tongs works very well for this) and chop the cilantro. Immediately before serving, stir in lime juice, coconut milk and cilantro.
This soup gets better as the flavors are allowed to infuse. It is always better the second day.
