Thai-Style Chicken and Rice Soup for Souper Sunday

I had plenty of leftover Thai-flavored chicken that I had cooked in coconut milk, based on a recipe I adapted from LK at Healthy. Delicious. (more on the chicken below). I had a couple of meals of the delicious chicken itself, part of it ended up in my curry pasta dish, but I still had enough left to make some soup. Going through my stack of clipped recipes I found one for a Thai-Style Chicken and Rice Soup. I was not exactly sure which magazine it was from, but with a search online, I found it (from Gourmet Magazine, Jan 2004) at Epicurious.com.   

Thai-Style Chicken and Rice Soup
Gourmet | January 2004

(Makes 8 servings)

Using shrimp instead of chicken in this recipe makes for an equally delicious soup.

8 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth (64 fl oz)
4 cups water
1 tablespoon Thai green curry paste*
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 (2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
2 cups loosely packed whole fresh cilantro leaves plus 1/2 cup chopped (from 2 large bunches)
1 cup jasmine rice
3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced crosswise, then slices cut lengthwise into thin strips
1 (13- to 14-oz) can unsweetened coconut milk, stirred well (I use lite)
1/4 lb snow peas, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1/4-inch strips
2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
Accompaniment: lime wedges

Combine stock, water, curry paste, garlic, ginger, coriander seeds, and whole cilantro leaves in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan, then simmer, uncovered, until ginger is softened, about 15 minutes. Pour through a paper-towel-lined sieve into a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot and discard solids. Stir rice into soup and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 15 minutes.

Add chicken or shrimp and poach at a bare simmer, uncovered, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in coconut milk, snow peas, and fish sauce and simmer, uncovered, until peas are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice, salt, and chopped cilantro.

*Available at Asian markets, some specialty foods shops, and some supermarkets.

Notes/Results: This made an incredibly thick, delicious and comforting soup with the tangy flavors keeping it from being too heavy, (especially if you use lite coconut milk). I added a bit more of pretty much all the herbs and spices and an extra full tablespoon of the green curry paste, as well as some chopped Thai basil and extra lime. That seemed to give it the right amount of flavor for me, I think as written, it would have been a little bland if I hadn't kicked it up a bit. Since I was using cooked chicken, I also added it in when I put in the coconut milk and snow peas. With the extra herbs and spices, I really enjoyed this one and would make it again. 

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When I saw this recipe for Chicken Braised in Coconut Milk at Healthy. Delicious., I thought it sounded good and like a great way to make some really moist chicken. I thought it would be fun to change up the spices and add some Thai-style flavors in. The result was a really moist, very flavorful chicken that was excellent on its own or used in other dishes like the curry and the soup. The kitchen smells like heaven when this is cooking too! I have my adapted recipe below and you can check out the original recipe at LK's site.

Chicken Braised in Coconut Milk and Thai Spices

adapted from LK at Healthy. Delicious.

3.5 - 4 pound chicken

sea salt and cracked black pepper
2 T olive oil
4-5 kaffir lime leaves (or substitute extra lime juice)
3 lemongrass stalks, bottom part only, peeled and bruised

juice of 1 lime
zest of 1 lemon and 1 lime
6 cloves garlic (skins left on)

2 1-inch pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

1 can coconut milk

1 cup chicken broth or stock

Preheat oven to 375. Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a pot just large enough to hold your chicken, heat oil. Add chicken, and brown on all sides (if you plan to eat the skin really cook it and get it nice and crispy; if you don’t eat the skin just brown it a little for flavor). Remove chicken from pan and discard the leftover oils, wiping pot clean. Put chicken back into the pot along with the rest of your ingredients. Place a lid on the pot and put the whole thing in the oven for about 90 minutes, basting occasionally. Remove chicken from pot and let sit for a few minutes. Serve with the cooking liquids spooned over top.

It looks like we have some wonderful soups waiting this week in the Souper Sunday Kitchen.

Let's take a look!

Chrystal and Amir from The Duo Dishes are back this week having spent time in my version of heaven, a cooking class about soups. They made 7 soups in 3 hours and got lots of inspiration for creating flavors at home. That led to the creation of this bright Sweet Potato, Squash and Apple Soup made with roasted veggies. I agree with Chrystal and Amir, a delicious soup knows no season, it's perfect anytime!

Another familiar face that I have been missing and am I happy to see again at Souper Sundays this week, is my friend Laurie from That's Not What The Recipe Says. A day trip to Boston and a bountiful stop at the farmer's market led to lots of inexpensive produce and this beautiful Cream of Asparagus Soup. Laurie says it is "light and flavorful" and it "tastes like spring!" 

Can you believe that this is the first time that Kim at Ordinary Recipes Made Gourmet ever tired making (or even eating) Minestrone Soup?! She was happy to discover what she had been missing, a "great chunky soup that feeds your bones!" Don't you love it when you try something and it becomes a new favorite?! Kim likes a soup where you can taste all the veggies in one bite and found this soup really hit the spot!

Reeni from Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice adapted a recipe for black bean soup from Tyler Florence and changed it up, added some heat, and ended up with some delicious Chipotle Black Bean Soup. For even more spice, she baked up some homemade chili-spiked corn tortilla chips. Reeni says the soup is "nice and spicy, hearty and soul-satisfying" and could easily be made vegetarian. Tyler would be proud! (or maybe jealous!)

With fresh chives from her garden, Ulrike from Küchenlatein, created a hearty bowl of Potato Soup with Chives and Blood Sausage. Ulrike says this soup is really delicious and although she is not normally a blood sausage fan, she says as that a fried garnish, she really liked it. (Unfortunately she could not get her sons to try that part of the soup!)

Suzie at Munch & Nibble, asks; "Can a soupy chicken dish make you a bonne maman or a good mother?" It certainly can't hurt, especially if it is a bowl of this homey Poulet Bonne Femme. This soup, slow-cooked in the oven and brimming with tender chicken and vegetables, leaves the house smelling "comforting and secure, just like a good mother's home should." Suzie says it is also really, really good!

Over at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, Natashya has elevated a weekly bowl of soup into an entire meal of soup, bread and dessert. (I think my invite keeps getting lost in the mail?!) This week the soup is a Dilled Potato Soup, that she says is "creamy, satisfying and very tasty indeed!" Served with soft, chunky, seasoned breadsticks and apple turnovers, it is the perfect "Sunday Special Dinner". 

Heather from girlichef is here to remind us that it is National Garlic Day today, and to profess her love for all things garlic. To celebrate the holiday, she created this drool-worthy Golden Garlic Soup with Fideos. Heather says this one is a "garlic-lover's dream" with its golden caramelized onions and garlic, spicy chilies and melted cheese. I say give me a big bowl please!

I am amazed each week by the quality and variety of soups that everyone comes up with! Thank you all for participating this week. 

If you have a soup or soup-like creation you want to share on a Souper Sunday, just click on the Souper Sunday logo on the side bar for all of the details. 

Speaking of soup, with just over 6 months of Souper Sundays now, I really love doing this weekly round-up and seeing what everyone has created and I also love the sense of community it inspires when we (virtually) gather around some great bowls of soup. I am also conscious that we have warm weather upon us and even warmer weather coming in many parts of the world and while I make soup pretty much year-round, I understand that not everyone may be in as much of a soup mode as they were in the cooler weather. To that end I have been thinking about ways to keep the core and heart of Souper Sundays but make a few changes that will help make it a bit more relevant for everyone. I'll be sharing those ideas and asking for your feedback next week so if you are a participant or a reader, or both, please come by next week and give me your thoughts.

Have a wonderful week!