Coconut Chicken & Lemongrass Soup

• 500 mlchicken stock
• 2lemongrass stalks, bruised and halved, removed before serving (optional)
• 25 gfresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 3garlic cloves, sliced
• 2red chillies, one sliced, one left whole
• 2 x 400mltins coconut milk
• 3 tbspfish sauce
• 1 tsppalm sugar
• 4makrut lime leaves, removed before serving (optional)
• 1 tbsplime juice
• 600 gchicken breast, thinly sliced
• 200 gshiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 3spring onions, sliced
• 15 gfresh coriander leaves, torn
• 100 gbaby spinach
• Fine salt, to taste
• 300 gcooked rice (optional)
• 160 gpickled cucumber (optional)
• Black pepper, to taste

Method

1. 1Pour the coconut milk and chicken stock into a large heavy pot. Add any lemongrass and lime leaves, ginger, sliced garlic and the whole chilli. Bring to the gentlest simmer over medium heat; you want a lazy shiver across the surface, not a rolling boil, or the coconut milk splits and goes grainy. Let it infuse for 15 minutes; by the end the kitchen should smell unmistakably of lemongrass and lime leaf.
2. 2Keep the broth at a gentle simmer while the aromatics infuse.
3. 3Season the sliced chicken with a small pinch of salt before it goes in.
4. 4Slide in the shiitake mushrooms and simmer for 3 minutes, until they darken and soften.
5. 5Add the chicken slice by slice so the temperature doesn't crash and they don't clump into a single raft. Poach for 6–8 minutes at that same gentle simmer, stirring once or twice, until the thickest pieces reach 75°C for 30 seconds.
6. 6Stir in the baby spinach and let it wilt down for 30 seconds; it only needs the residual heat.
7. 7Off the heat, season with the fish sauce, the lime juice and the palm sugar. Taste; most of the salt comes from the fish sauce, but you're chasing a balance of salty, sour and sweet, with the lime juice cutting cleanly through the coconut richness. Taste again and adjust: another splash of lime if it's flat, another teaspoon of fish sauce if it's thin, a final pinch of salt to tie it together.
8. 8Remove any lemongrass, lime leaves and the whole chilli. The ginger slices may remain in the soup.
9. 9Ladle into bowls and finish with the spring onions, sliced red chilli and torn coriander. Serve with the optional cooked rice and pickled cucumber if using.

Per serving

kcal

668

protein

54g

fibre

1.3g

carbs

12.4g

fat

46.6g