Last week Vince went to Nebraska and he and his friend ate at a Thai restaurant. Vince called me to tell me how delicious the soup was and then he brought me back a container of it to try. He wanted me to see if I could make something similar and I just hadn’t taken time to do it yet. Earlier this week Kelly Ann, who is my friend on Facebook, said they were having a spicy Thai soup for dinner and I asked for the recipe and she posted it. Based on the soup I had tried, and her soup, I made a few changes to her recipe and it was beyond delicious! Vince told his friend that I had made the soup and he said “It’s even better than what we had in the restaurant!” Thats’ what I love to hear!
Kelly Ann’s recipe calls for 1 – 2 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce. I thought I had some and didn’t buy any but then I couldn’t find any in the fridge so I just left it out. The soup was so good, I don’t know if I’d use it next time or not.
Kelly Ann’s recipe called for 3 chicken breasts and I didn’t really want a bunch of chicken in mine so I used part of one chicken breast . . just to have some meat in there. She used 3 cups of chicken broth and I used about 2 cups.
I added about 2 cups of shredded cabbage and I dropped 1 chili pepper into the soup and let it simmer for a while but then took it out because the soup was getting a bit too spicy for me. And, I took about a 1″ piece of ginger and quartered it, let it simmer in the soup and then removed it before serving.
You can really add or delete whatever doesn’t suit you but here’s the recipe exactly as I made it.
Spicy Thai Soup
1/2 chicken breast, cut into very thin strips
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 cups chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
3 Tablespoons green curry sauce
juice of 1/2 lime
1 chili pepper
2 cups shredded cabbage
1″ piece of ginger, peeled and quartered
cilantro (as much as you want)
2 T. olive oil or sesame oil
Saute chicken in olive oil. Add mushrooms and saute til mushrooms are tender. Add green curry sauce, broth, coconut milk, lime, chili pepper, and ginger. Simmer til flavors are blended. Taste to see if it’s getting too spicy. I removed the chili pepper before the soup got too spicy. Add cabbage a few minutes before serving. It needs to have a bit of crunch left in it. Just before serving, remove the ginger and add the cilantro.
We ate it one night for an appetizer and had the leftovers the next day for lunch. It was fantastic the first time we ate it but even better the second day.
Diana W. says
This sounds very intriguing…..We always make soup to have the next day for JUST that reason!
patti says
we have a recently opened thai restaurant that i love to go to, but really only go out to lunch once every couple of months. your recipe sounds great and i have everything on hand except i have no idea what green curry sauce is. something you buy? something you make? could you elaborate?
Shelley C says
My mom was like you, able to pick out the flavors in a dish and replicate it….that is just beyond my abilities! I think it amazing. Only had thai once in my life. It was good.
Michelle says
Yummy — we’ll have to try that!
Cheri B. says
I’ve been wanting to make this soup since we ate at the local Thai restaurant. I bought a jar of green curry and a jar of red curry at the local Safeway – it was in the Asian food section. The jars were rather small.
Thanks for the recipe!
patti says
thanx for that tip, i’ll check our safeway this weekend, and maybe some other stores now that i know where to look for it and how it is packaged. i do have red chili sauce and thot if i couldn’t find it i might be able to substitute but then i wouldn’t have that curry flavor — and since i’m not good at off the cuff cooking i rely on recipes that are recommended. thank you judy, i’ve used several of yours and have never been disappointed!
Marge Harrington says
We ate at a Thai restaurant just this past Tuesday and had chicken coconut soup and loved it. How fortunate you had it and posted the recipe. Now I do not have to look it up. Thank you. They also had lemon grass soup, but lemongrass is something I cannot get. Everything in the chicken soup is available here.
Cynthia H., El Cerrito, CA says
Marge, although I adore most Thai dishes (living in the S.F. Bay Area, I have a couple of favorite Thai restaurants), I have never been able to warm up to lemongrass (lemon grass?). I’d rather have full-grown Bermuda grass in my food….so just make what you want to make, add more lime leaves/juice or fish sauce or other acid/pungent flavor that you like and can get your hands on, and…ENJOY! 🙂
Linda H says
That really sounds good. I printed the recipe, so I will be sure to try it. We like soups of all kinds. Thanks, Judy!
Penny says
We have so many Thai restaurants in S CA that serve delicious food that i like but after just a few bites the hot spicy taste has accumulated to untolerable in my mouth & especially my tonque ~ way too hot to eat any more! You have solved my problem! This soup sounds delicious especially w/ ur suggestions of how to control HOT & SPICY! Thanks I need to purchase some of the ingredients & will try very soon!
Valerie says
Judy, The recipe sounds delish and I would like to try it. I was just wondering, by chile pepper do you mean one of those dried red ones or something like a jalapeno or serrano? Thanks!
Marge Harrington says
I made your recipe today and it was delicious. It’s a keeper recipe.
patti says
i was pleased to be able to find the green curry “sauce” in our local store! i live in a small town with one grocery store and thot i might have to travel to the big city before i could make this soup.
but — is this different? it is green curry paste rather than sauce. i’m not sure if that means i should use less because it is more concentrated, or if it’s the same thing. of course i can just try it, but i’m a recipe follower more than a cook so i don’t really trust myself to just wing it.