Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut Rice

This is a pretty straightforward dish that comes together easily. The coconut rice really adds to the soup when combined. 

Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut Rice

(from here and here)

Soup:
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup bottled clam juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons bottled minced fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon red curry paste (to taste)
1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons (1/2-inch) sliced green onion tops
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
4 ounces trimmed snow peas

Coconut Rice:
1 cup jasmine rice
1 cup coconut milk
7/8 cup cups water
1 heaping Tbsp. dry shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. vegetable oil

==

This isn't a typical, "all day simmer" soup. It comes together really quickly.

This is pretty simple for the first part.

Just combine:

3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup bottled clam juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons bottled minced fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon red curry paste (to taste)

into a soup pot.

Bring to a boil.

I went ahead and cut up my chicken while that was on the heat.

Once you reach a boil, drop the heat to a simmer.

Add your chicken.

While the chicken cooks, we can make the rice.

Add the cup of rice and heaped tablespoon of coconut to a small pan.

Add your salt and oil (1/4 tsp each).

Add the coconut milk and water and turn your heat to high.

You're going to want to stir pretty constantly as it'll stick to the bottom, but it'll come up to temp pretty quickly.

Once it JUST boils, drop the heat to low and cover tightly.

Let it cook over low heat for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, check to see that all the liquid has been absorbed.

Just take a peek in the middle. If it's clear of liquid, you're all set. If not, let it cook another 5 minutes or so until the liquid is gone.

Turn off the heat and cover until you are ready to eat.

==

When your chicken is cooked through (20-30 minutes) add the 1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk, 1/4 cup fresh lime juice and 2 tablespoons sugar.

Throw in the 2 tablespoons (1/2-inch) sliced green onion tops, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Give it a stir and give it a taste. Adjust seasoning.

Right before you eat, toss in the 4 ounces trimmed snow peas. They only take a few minutes to get heated through.

They are done when they swell up like so:

Remove the cover from the rice. 

Give it a fluff with a fork.

Serve the rice and soup separately if you want, but combining them works really well. The coconut from the rice really boosts the aroma of the soup.

Overall, this was a good meal. The lime juice added a nice acidic element that complimented the coconut milk. Everything was balanced very nicely.

Enjoy!