NOT Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

I looked at a lot of recipes for a spicy sweet Thai Coconut Soup.  For whatever reason, I was not happy with anything I saw.

Mainly, I am just not the kind of cook that buys a lot of single dish ingredients.  It makes things just too expensive.  While my local market has very fresh produce and I am always happy, they do not stock many exotic items.  Plus, unfamiliar ingredients still scare me a little.  So, no Lemongrass, No Fish Paste, No kaffir Lime Leaves, No Thai nam pla, or Vietnamese nuoc nam.  But there are Kansas equivalent ingredients and I did come up with a sweet, little spicy, yet still have an exotic taste and look.

So, with apologies to anyone looking for an authentic Thai Coconut Chicken Soup, Here's the Kansas version...

Pretty soup and pretty happy with this easy, inexpensively duplicate-able recipe!

With all the vegetables in the soup, I thought it was a wonderful first course (or in this case, a side dish) to some Asian Short Ribs with broiled Pineapple, served over Cilantro Rice... Recipe to follow another day Follow me on Pinterest... You'll see these recipes soon...

For now...

Let's get back to this soup

Here's what I did...

NOT Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 4 TBS Olive Oil
• 1/2 Medium Onion, cut in 1 inch narrow strips
• 4 Cloves Garlic, Crushed and minced
• 1 Medium Carrot, sliced
• 1 Large Russett Potato, peeled, and chopped into approximately 1/2-inch pieces
• To Taste Sea Salt and Pepper
• 1 Can Coconut Milk
• 1 Cup Chicken Stock
• 1 Cup Snow Peas, Ends Clipped
• 1 Breast From a store bought, fully cooked Rotisserie Chicken, removed from the bones, skin removed
• 1 tsp Red Chili Flakes
• 1 Medium Lime... Juice only, save the zest for garnish
• 1/4 Cup Fresh Cilantro, Diced and divided
• Garnish with Thin Slices of Poblano Peppers (Use HOT Thai Chili Peppers if you want to crank up the heat).
• And Lime Zest

Cooking Directions

1. In a saute pan, Heat the oil to just prior to smoking. Add the onions, potatoes and carrots and saute for 5 minutes. Stirring often to keep the potatoes from sticking.
2. After 5 minutes, add the garlic and continue to saute for 2 more minutes.
3. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Transfer to a medium sized soup pot... Add one can of Coconut Milk. Heat until simmering.
5. Allow this to simmer for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through and the carrots are softened.
6. Add the chicken stock and stir to mix.
7. Simmer for another couple of minutes.
8. Add the Chicken and Pea Pods and the Chili Flakes. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes, until the pea pods are softened but still crunchy.
9. Add lime juice, half of the Cilantro
10. Stir to mix, taste and add additional Chili Peppers, black peppers and salt to taste.
11. Garnish with remaining cilantro, slices of poblano pepper and Lime Zest (or in this case, I had some  lemon zest as well)
12. Serve HOT and ENJOY!!!

A WONDERFUL Soup... So much "Stuff" it could be a stew.  The sweet coconut milk makes this exotic tasting, the lime, the zest, the snow peas... YUM

And of course the Rotissrie Chicken makes this fast and easy to make.  Making this one of my favorite additions to my "52 Uses For a Rotisserie Chicken"! So many layers of flavors, the exotic tastes do remind me of the more authentic Thai versions... But easily accessible with easy to find ingredients!
What could be easier and tastier?

And of course this is also a terrific addition to me list of "52 Recipes for Soup, Chowder and Chili". (work in progress, but I have a bunch posted already)

And as always, if you like this recipe and think you might want to give it a try, pin this to your Pinterest Board and be sure to follow me on Pinterest if you want to see the rest of my 52 Ideas!