Thai Coconut Soup: a favorite!
I know when it comes to Asian foods, the Thai Coconut Soup is a favorite of many people.
I eat it almost every time I go to a Thai restaurant. or at least I used to!
Now I think about it twice, first because being on a ketogenic type diet, I have to be aware of hidden carbs, and a lot of places put sugar in this soup. (The original recipe actually calls for sugar!)
The second reason is because a lot of Asian restaurants, including Thai, might use MSG in their food.
Why they use MSG and what it does to your body
MSG or monosodium glutamate is the salt bound to the amino-acid glutamate. Glutamate occurs naturally in the body, but the MSG you get in restaurant is far from natural.
It is actually a chemically manufactured product made by hacking apart natural amino acids.
MSG is not only used in Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian foods, but it used in almost all fast foods, and unknown by most people in American foods.
WHY is it used?
- It tricks your brain to think that the food you are eating is highly nutritious, so the manufacturer can use less real ingredients.
- It triggers an insulin response, even if no carbs are present in the food. The result is that you will be hungry again in no time! (and go back for more food!0
- It gives food that Umami taste we crave. (For very cheap!)
WHAT are the effects of MSG to the body?
- Cause headaches by constricting the blood vessels.
- Digestive system upsets, by creating a Taurine deficiency
- Disrupts the endocrine system by interfering with the amino-acid GABA.
- Causes hypoglycemia by stimulating insulin release.
- Stimulates the pancreas and may contribute to obesity, diabetes 2 and insulin resistance.
Those should be enough reasons to avoid MSG as much as possible!
Make your own Thai Coconut Soup, avoid MSG and make it Keto!
The best way to still enjoy this favorite soup and make it be a healthy experience, perfect for keto is to make it yourself!
I heard form a lot of people how it is difficult to find exotic ingredients, which are often expensive and only used once.
In this recipes I tried to give you EASY options. Or at least several options!
You can use common ingredients, OR you can get the original ones online IF you can not get them locally!
The soup came out amazing for me. That is not because I made it…really! I am being objective, but it was one of the best Thai Coconut soups I ever had!
Chicken or Shrimp
That is totally up to you!
I used Shrimp and it was great.
Another possible variation is to add Shirataki noodles to the soup and make it into a delicious noodle soup, no extra calories or carbs!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
- Serves: 2
- Serving size: 2 portions
- Calories: 493
- Fat: 45.3
- Carbohydrates: 8
- Protein: 11.5
- BROTH
- • 4 cups Chicken Broth
- • 1.5 cups full fat coconut milk
- • 3 Kaffir Lime leaves (found in Asian Markets) OR zest of 1 organic lime
- • 1 inch fresh lemongrass cut in slices OR 1 teaspoon dried lemongrass
- • 1 cup fresh cilantro
- • 3 or 4 dried Thai Chilies or 1 jalapeno sliced
- • 1 inch piece of fresh galangal root OR 1 inch piece fresh ginger root OR 2 to 3 pieces dried galangal root
- • (get lemongrass, galangal and chilis together here)
- • 1 teaspoon sea salt
- SOUP
- • 100 grams raw wild caught shrimp or 100 grams raw chicken thigh meat
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- • 30 grams mushrooms (any kind) sliced.
- • 30 grams red onion, sliced thinly
- • 1 tablespoon fish sauce or 1 anchovy finely smashed
- • Juice of 1 lime
- • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro to garnish
- Instructions
- Broth
- Put all ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer very lightly (do not boil hard!) for 20 minutes.
- Strain through a fine mesh colander and pour back into the pan.
- Soup
- Bring the broth back to a simmer, then add the shrimp or chicken and the fish sauce or anchovy.
- Add the sliced onion and the mushrooms.
- Let simmer for about 10 minutes, until the meat is done.
- Add the lime juice and serve in bowls with the chopped cilantro as garnish/
- OPTION:
- You can serve on top of shirataki noodles for a noodle soup!
IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE PIN IT BY CLICKING THE IMAGE HERE BELOW
Would this work with pork stock too??
I think so, depending how strong of a flavor the stock has. I like pork and shrimp together, so for me would not be a problem!
oh dear ur dish just made me realized how much i’ve missed chilli…I’m definitely going grocery hopping tomorrow. Thank u!!!!
Is this the same soup as Tom kha?
Yes…just the low carb version…with no sugar and no soy 🙂
Healthy soup dish, smooth and full of flavor. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
This was a tasty soup. Even with all the steps, it didn’t take to long. One comment on the recipe, you have coconut oil on the ingredients list but do not incorporate into the recipe. We added it a few minutes before serving and it worked great. I would recommend adding more heat if you like spicy like my husband.