This is my intrepretation of Tom Ka Kai. For some of the harder to find ingredients (Galangal root powder, lemongrass, Fish Sauce) you can order them from importfood.com.

(Makes a lot)
2 Cans of coconut milk
2 cans of chicken broth
1 can of mushrooms, or buy a box of fresh mushrooms and use that. Almost can't have too many mushrooms in this soup.
3-4 Skinless chicken breasts, cut into mouth-sized chunks.
6 T of Fish Sauce
3-4 T of lemon juice (or lime)
2 tsp of galangal root powder (You can substitute fresh ginger)
1-2 tsp of lemon grass powder
1 can of water chestnuts (Nice and crunchy)

Optional:
Sliced sweet peppers. I used half a bag of frozen green, yellow, reg mix I bought at trader joes. Makes the soup very pretty.

Dried red-pepper flakes (some like it hot)
Cayenne pepper (Some like it even hotter)

Cook the chicken bits in a big pot until they're mostly done. Dump in wet ingredients. Heat to a boil and taste. Adjust seasonings. Let it simmer for 20 minutes.

I like to dice up a fresh avocado in my soup occassionally.

Once you have all the ingredients this is so easy to make.

You can get coconut milk much cheaper at an Asian Market. You can use fresh galangal root (if you can find it, just chop it into pieces). You can also use fresh lemon grass.

Thanks for the recipe...it sounds like a delicious version of Tom Ka Kai. I am going to be making this for supper this evening trying some of your variations.
I will be using fresh mushrooms, red and orange bell pepper, lime juice (plus a little lime rind for good measure), fresh galangal (found it at an asian food store), fresh lemongrass (from the local grocery), avocado, and I am going to be using fresh cayenne peppers.

I will definately reply back later with how it turned out.

It turned out wonderful. I really like the addition of the avocado pieces added in at serving.

I think I may try this with scallops or prawns instead of the chicken sometime soon.

I forgot an ingredient... fresh cilantro! Nummmmmmm. I made another vat of soup tonight. I like it to be very lemony.

glad you didnt mention that ingredient, as cilantro isn't one of my favorite spices whatsoever.

This has been on my To-Make list for a long time, and I finally got around to it. It's really good. I added some red curry paste and that gave it a nice zing.

I kill for cilantro. It's like... human catnip to me. I keep wanting to roll in it.

Well maybe next time I will go ahead and try a little cilantro....just because are so persuasive.

I'd just add it directly to the bowl when you serve. That way if you don't like the taste you'll only have one bowlful to toss.

Fresh cilantro, btw. In case that wasn't obvious.

Yea, fresh herbs is what I generally have in the house anyway, so no problem. Thanks again.

I made this again tonight, and I noticed a huge improvement in flavour by using a brand of coconut milk that had a lot of the cream on top. The last kind I had was mostly water. All that coconut cream made the soup really creamy.

I finally got my herb garden started, I'm hoping to keep a year-round source of cilantro going through staggering planting with seeds, so this will be great on the coconut soup front!

I've really got to get to an Asian grocery. I keep using the Trader Joe's Light coconut milk.

I made this again a few days ago but i tryed it with scallops instead of the chicken, again it was very very tastey. I did try a little cilantro, and it didnt poison me like it usually does.

I served it to my sister when she came over to visit and she thought it was divine as well.