Pheasant Tom Kha Gai Soup
This classic Thai soup gets a wild game upgrade with pheasant legs and breasts. It's a little spicy, a little sour, and oh so comforting.
Ingredients
Soup:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 pheasant legs bone-in, skinless
- 4 pheasant breast bones or other bones, optional
- 5 cloves garlic smashed
- 3 inches fresh ginger peeled and cut into slices lengthwise
- 1 talk lemongrass cut into thirds, and split in half lengthwise
- 4 green onion cut into thirds
- 1 jalapeno pepper sliced
- 2 tablespoon red curry paste
- 4 cups pheasant stock or chicken stock
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- 12 oz shiitake mushrooms fresh, stalks removed and sliced (save stalks for broth
- 2 cans coconut milk 13.66 oz each
- 1 lime juiced
Toppings/Other Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 pheasant breast boneless, skinless
- black pepper to taste
- salt to taste
- 4 ½ sticky rice cooked
- 1 manzano pepper thinly sliced or finely diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper thinly sliced or finely diced
- 3 avocado ripe, sliced
- 6 radish thinly sliced
- 4 green onion thinly sliced
- ¾ cup microgreens
- ⅓ cup Thai basil cut into ribbons
- 1 lime cut into 6 wedges
Instructions
Soup:
- Heat medium stockpot over high heat. Add in 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat pan. Add in pheasant legs and breast bones. Cook 2 minutes per side or until browned. Remove to a plate.
- Add in garlic, ginger, lemongrass, green onions, jalapeno, and mushroom stalks. Cook 3-5 minutes or until softened and fragrant, stirring frequently.
- Add in curry paste and stir to coat. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add in stock, water, fish sauce, and soy sauce. Stir to combine.
- Add in pheasant legs and breast bones. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer 2.5 hours or until pheasant leg meat is tender. If they're not quite tender yet, leave them in for the rest of the cooking time instead of taking them out early.
- Remove legs from broth and remove meat from the bones. Place the leg meat into a sealable container and place in the fridge until ready to use. Place leg bones back into broth and continue simmering for an additional hour.
- After 3.5-4 hours of cooking time, strain the broth using a fine mesh strainer. Discard the solids.
- Add in coconut milk and bring broth back to a boil
- Add in sliced mushrooms, simmer for 15 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.
- Add in shredded leg meat and lime juice. Stir and cook an additional 2 minutes or until leg meat is heated through.
Pheasant Breasts:
- While mushrooms are cooking, cook pheasant breasts.
- Season pheasant breasts all over with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in 2 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat.
- Place pheasant breasts in pan and cook for 5-6 minutes per side or until browned and internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- Remove to a plate and let rest 10 minutes. Slice thinly and set aside to use on top of soup.
Assembly:
- Place ¾ cup cooked sticky rice in the bottom of soup bowl.
- Pour soup around or on top of sticky rice.
- Arrange sliced pheasant breast on top of rice.
- Arrange peppers, avocado and radishes around sliced pheasant.
- Top with microgreens, green onions, and Thai basil. Serve with lime wedges. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 6 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 787
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 787kcal | 39% |
| Carbohydrates | 24g | 8% |
| Protein | 40g | 80% |
| Fat | 63g | 97% |
| Saturated Fat | 31g | 155% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 5g | 29% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 22g | 110% |
| Cholesterol | 92mg | 31% |
| Sodium | 742mg | 31% |
| Potassium | 1562mg | 33% |
| Fiber | 10g | 40% |
| Sugar | 4g | 8% |
| Vitamin A | 1529IU | 31% |
| Vitamin C | 43mg | 48% |
| Calcium | 99mg | 10% |
| Iron | 8mg | 44% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.