Simple Thai Broth (oh-so-soothing-&-delicious)

Ginger and garlic spike a coconut laced chicken broth. For extra flavor, lemongrass, and/or Thai red curry can be added with delicious results, and for serving, lime wedges, cilantro, or sliced green onions can be used to garnish the bowl. This delicious broth is absolutely perfect when you are fighting off a cold or the flu, or just want something soothing on a rainy day. With that nutrient dense chicken stock, MCFA rich coconut milk, and immune boosting garlic and ginger, there are many reasons I crave this soup when sick!

To make it a full meal, serve it over rice noodles and cook thinly sliced chicken (or add in shredded roasted chicken) and perhaps a bunch of spinach or bean sprouts in the broth, which rounds it out into a light and easy meal.

This is one of the recipes from my cookbook, Ladled: Nourishing Soups for All Seasons. One of the things I really cared about was creating some really simple soups that I, and others, would be able to prepare quickly. As you have probably noticed in this series about Nutrient Dense Foods and Dr. Price, I think that homemade stock is a great thing to have in your menu on a regular basis. But if all of the soup recipes we enjoy are complicated and hard to prepare, then it will be that much harder to have consistently. Some of the other simple soups in my book include my easy Cream of Tomato Soup, Meatball and Zucchini Noodle Soup, Cream of Vegetable Soup, and my whole section of “Simple Soups with Eggs” among many others. Perhaps it is the stage of life I am in right now with two little people to take care of, but I place a high premium on simple recipes!

Anyways, back to this recipe, as you see below, I provide a lot of different options, simply because all of them are easy options, and delicious too. All of the many variations I’ve made of this soup have been delightful. By the way, the Thai curry paste I currently have in my kitchen is the Thai Kitchen Red curry, but I am eager to try this Oregon made version, Thai and True Curry Paste soon. Here is my chicken stock recipe.

Simple Thai Broth (oh-so-soothing-&-delicious)

 

Serves: 6 (small)

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 15 mins

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This is a perfect broth when you’re coming down with a cold. It has chicken stock, known for its healing properties, and it has coconut milk, which contains MCFAs that have powerful antimicrobial properties. Plus, it contains ginger, garlic, and other spices that ramp up the immune system. You can keep this broth simple with just some ginger and garlic in coconut chicken stock, or you can add more flavor with a stalk of lemongrass (which also gives extra health benefits) or a prepared Thai red curry, which is easy to keep on hand. To make this broth a full meal, serve it over rice pasta and cooked chicken and perhaps some spinach cooked in the broth at the end. This is pretty rich, so cut the coconut milk in half for a lighter broth if desired.

Ingredients

• 6 cups/1.4 liters homemade chicken stock
• 1 (14 ounce/414 ml) can full-fat coconut milk
• 4 inch/10 cm piece of ginger, cut into thin slices, or 2 tablespoons grated ginger
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• Pinch or two red chili flakes
• For More Flavor: 1 stalk lemongrass cut in half, 2 teaspoons Thai red curry (optional)
• To Serve: Unrefined salt or fish sauce, fresh limes, chopped cilantro, sliced green onions (optional)

Instructions

1. Place the stock, coconut milk, ginger, garlic, and red chili flakes (plus lemongrass and/or Thai red curry, if using) in a large pot on high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Turn down the heat and simmer the broth for ten minutes.
3. Salt the broth with unrefined salt or fish sauce to taste. Remove the lemongrass, ginger (if you are using sliced), and garlic. Serve with a slice of lime, chopped cilantro, and/or sliced green onions, if desired.

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