We have a much beloved and much anticipated tradition in our family for Christmas Eve dinner.  Everyone gets to pick 1 or 2 things that they want for dinner and that’s what we have.  It’s usually a smorgasbord of deliciousness!

Courtney wanted this soup from her favorite Asian restaurant but they were closed so I said I would give it a go.  Honestly the hardest part of making this soup was the trip to the local Asian market and then trying to find all of the ingredients, that took awhile and the hubs even went with me to help.

Everyone loved it, said it was thicker and creamier than the version from their restaurant and also spicier so a win for me!

3 lemon grass stalks, trimmed, cut into segments, and pressed with back of wooden spoon to release oils

6 cups coconut milk

2 cups cold water

3 Thai bird chilies, halved

2″ galangal root

6 Thai lime leaves

6 cloves garlic, smashed

1 teaspoon Thai chili powder (I could not find this at the Asian market so used regular chili powder)

1 pound chicken, cut into strips

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon coconut sugar (couldn’t find this either so used regular sugar)

1 onion, chopped

5 ounces Beech mushrooms

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

salt to taste

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1  Combine lemon grass, coconut milk, water, chilies, galangal root, lime leaves, garlic, and chili powder in a large stock pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 35 minutes.

2  With a large slotted spoon, remove lemon grass, chilies, galangal root, lime leaves, and garlic from pot.  Add chicken, salt, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and onion to pot.  Simmer for 10 minutes.

3  Add mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and cilantro to pot and stir to combine.

recipe from Tasty