Chicken Coconut Curry Soup

Some of you may have noticed on facebook that I have been desperately searching for an authentic Thai restaurant somewhere near our place. It's gotten to the extent that it's perhaps detrimental to my marriage... I convinced my husband over the weekend to drive 45 minutes to try this little Thai restaurant I had found on-line (under the guise of looking at strollers). Sadly, the restaurant isn't open for lunch on the weekend, so my craving once again had to be put on hold.

I realized over the weekend though that I have a couple of excellent Thai recipes. Though they're not quite as good as what I'd get in a true Thai restaurant, it'll help hold me over until I've found what I'm searching for. Or until the next time I'm in Oakville and can go back to the fantastic restaurant we found there (I can't remember the name right now, but am sure I could hunt it down again if it came to it).

This is a great soup recipe and I make it lots during the winter for both lunches and suppers. It's great with a salad and/or homemade biscuit or roll.

1 tbsp. oil
4 tsp. curry paste
1 1/4 lb. chicken, cut
1 onion
1 red pepper, chopped
grated rind of 1 lemon
1 C light coconut milk
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
chicken broth (optional)
1/3 C fresh coriander



1. Heat oil. Stir-fry curry paste for 30 seconds. Add chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add onion and cook for another minute. (I usually use the Shredded Chicken from my post of Dec. 18th. So I typically cook the pepper and onion until cooked and then stir in the curry paste and already cooked Shredded Chicken).

2. Add pepper and lemon rind and stir-fry for 1 minute or until onion is soft. (I typically cheat and use store-bought ground lemon rind, which you can usually find in the spices section of a well-stocked grocery store, such as Loblaws).

3. Stir in coconut milk, soy sauce and lemon juice and bring to a boil. I usually also add in a decent quantity of chicken broth, as I find that otherwise, the soup doesn't have enough broth to my liking.

4. Cook for 2 minutes or until liquid is reduced. Stir in coriander. (I always say this, but don't omit the fresh coriander unless absolutely necessary, as it really does contribute a lot of flavour to the soup.)