Tom Kha Gai, or Tom Ka Gai, or Tom Kha Kai… however you spell it this is still one of my very favorite soups, featuring galangal and lemongrass. This amazing soup is creamy, has a little kick (or in my case, a big kick with the extra chilis and chili oil I use), and of course, has mushrooms! It really doesn’t take that long to make and is easy once you find all the ingredients, which can be more of a challenge.

There have been times I wanted to make this soup but couldn’t find everything, specifically the galangal and the lemongrass. Lemongrass has become easier of late, but I had to go to four different Asian markets to finally find the galangal. I was expecting to find dried galangal, but what I found was fresh! Eurika! I’m going to chop it up into portion sizes and freeze it.

It’s name mean Boil (Tom) Galangal (Kha) Chicken (Gai). It is different than Tom Yum in that it is based around coconut milk rather than chicken stock. Most of the other ingredients are the same.

Galanga, which to me is the defining flavor in this soup, is in the same family as ginger, but had a very different and distinct flavor.

Other variations include Tom Kha Kai in which seafood is the primary protein, Tom Kha Mu with pork, and Tom Kha Het with mushrooms.