Easy & Delicious Vegan Thai Tom Kha Soup

Let me take you on a little culinary trip to Thailand! Tom Kha soup is one of my favourite Thai dishes. And it’s very easy to make a vegan version of it!

An old time favourite

I discovered Tom Kha soup here in Antwerp at an Asian restaurant almost 20 years ago and right away fell in love with it. So much so that when I traveled to Thailand for the first time in 2004 it was the first dish I ate when I arrived there! I still remember it well. It was in a little cafe on Phra Athit Road in the Banglampoo area that already was a backpacker hub in that time. And the flavours of my first real Thai Tom Kha soup were even so much more intense than the one I always had at the Asian restaurant in Antwerp! Yum!

The lime, the galangal, the sweetness, spiciness, saltiness, the creaminess, ah, it’s just such a wonderful combination of flavours! In the years since that first trip to Thailand I turned vegetarian and found it harder to find a veggie version of this wonderful soup in restaurants but luckily I discovered it’s actually very easy to make yourself!

The Flavourful Ingredients

The big star in the ingredient list is galangal. It is the one ingredient that really gives Tom Kha soup it’s distinctive flavour. And while it’s not the easiest ingredient to get hold of I would never substitute it by ginger or leave it out. Because it simply would not be the same at all. Here in Antwerp you can buy fresh galangal in Asian supermarkets.

Lemon grass, kafir lime leaves and lime juice add to the lemony flavours. Some chilli peppers add spiciness, coconut milk brings the creaminess and a bit of sugar brings some sweetness.

And the rest is up to you. Traditionally this soup is made with chicken broth, chicken, mushrooms and tomato. For a vegan Tom Khai soup you can use a vegetable broth and whatever veggies appeal to you. I used mushrooms, green beans and lotus root here. But baby corn, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli … would work well too.

And often they add some cilantro. I ended up using Thai basil here instead because I was out of cilantro.

And if you’d like to add some protein, tofu or tempeh would be great!

It’s a quick and easy recipe, it should be ready in about 20 minutes! Just follow the instructions below and enjoy!

Print Recipe

Easy & Delicious Vegan Tom Kha Soup

Servings: 2

Ingredients

1 cup vegetable broth
400 ml coconut milk (creamy coconut milk for cooking)
2 stalks of lemon grass* (halved and cut into 4cm long pieces)
3 kafir lime leaves (fresh or frozen)
4 slices of galangal*
2 Thai chilies (either sliced or cut halfways) (optional)
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar (optional)
2 tbsp of lime juice
1 onion (chopped in big pieces)
250 g mushrooms (sliced)
100 g green beans (frozen or fresh)
100 g lotus root* (frozen)

Serve with

a few sprigs of cilantro or Thai basil
lime wedges
some cooked Jasmin rice

Instructions

Place a wok or a heavy bottom pan on medium heat and add vegetable broth, coconut milk, Bruise lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves and add to coconut milk, add slices of galangal to it. Let simmer for a few minutes
Add onion, mushrooms, lotus root and beans. Let simmer for about 6-7 minutes til vegetables are nearly done.
Add salt, sugar (optional) and chillies. Mix and let simmer for 2-3 more minutes.
Turn off the heat. Add the lime juice. Give it a taste and if necessary add some more salt or sugar or chillies.
Serve with cilantro or Thai basil, some extra lime wedges and some Jasmin rice. Enjoy!

Notes

*Kaffir Lime leaves and lotus root are found in the freezer section of some Asian Supermarkets. Lotus root has a very neutral taste and is a bit similar to potato though a little bit more stringy.

Galangal, lemon grass and Thai basil are found in the fresh vegetable section of Asian supermarkets. Lemon grass and Thai basil could possibly even be found in your regular supermarket.

Kaffir Lime leaves, lemon grass and galangal are only in the soup to provide flavour. Don’t eat them!