Thai Red Curry and Coconut Chicken Soup

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SERVES 4 TO 6

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS For an authentic-tasting Thai red curry soup, we skipped over the homemade Thai curry paste, which can be a time-consuming and ingredient-intensive endeavor, and reached for the store-bought variety. Using a generous amount of curry paste and blooming, or cooking, it in some coconut milk worked to deepen its flavor so we didn’t need any extra aromatics. To infuse our chicken with rich flavor and ensure moist meat, we poached the chicken breasts right in the broth before shredding the meat; this also upped the savory notes of the broth. Stirring more coconut milk in at the end preserved its clean, fresh taste. To round out our Thai-style soup, we added white rice and mushrooms to the mix. You can substitute light coconut milk in this recipe, if desired. See the Test Kitchen Tip that follows the recipe.

1	(14-ounce) can coconut milk
3	tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1	pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8	ounces white mushrooms
⅔	cup long-grain white rice
	Fresh cilantro

1. Cook 1 tablespoon coconut milk, curry paste, and ½ teaspoon salt together in large saucepan over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 4 cups water and ¾ cup coconut milk. Trim chicken and add to soup. Bring soup to simmer, then reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer gently until chicken registers 160 degrees, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer chicken to cutting board, let cool slightly, then shred into bite-size pieces.

2. Trim and quarter mushrooms, then add to soup with rice. Cover and continue to simmer soup gently until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in chicken with any accumulated juices and remaining coconut milk. Chop 2 tablespoons cilantro and stir into soup. Serve, topping individual portions with whole cilantro leaves.