Welcome to the column to go to when you’re a broke, tired college student in a dorm. As mentioned before, I am doing an around the world challenge to help myself expand my tastes and pallet. While Tom Kha Gai is not a national dish, I wanted to try to recreate this specific dish that hails from Thailand. Unfortunately, it did not hit the mark as well as I’d hoped. I had one of my professors taste it, as he came from that part of the world, and apparently, while it does not taste authentic, it is about as close as you can get when making Thai food in the United States. He also liked it regardless. So I’ll take the partial win and share, especially since I also liked the soup myself.

What you’ll need is: one and a half pounds cubed chicken thighs, 14 ounces coconut milk, 14 ounces coconut cream, eight ounces chopped shiitake mushrooms, four ounces diced green chilies, two cups chicken broth, four tablespoons red curry paste, two tablespoons fish sauce, two tablespoons brown sugar, one tablespoon coconut oil, five minced garlic cloves, two chopped shallots, one chopped lemongrass stalk, one juiced lime and powdered ginger.

Photo of Tom Kha Gai with rice noodles. (Contributed/eatsmarter.com)

Sauté your shallots, chilies, lemon grass and red curry paste in a pot on medium heat. Once your onions are translucent, add your garlic and sauté another minute. Add your broth and bring to a boil. Then, reduce your heat and simmer for 30 minutes with a lid on the pot.

After simmering for 30 minutes, add your coconut milk, coconut cream, chicken, mushroom, ginger, fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar. Mix the soup thoroughly. From there, you’ll cook the soup until the chicken is cooked through properly, stirring often.

After that, serve with chives and crispy onions, if you prefer.

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