Vegetarian Tom Kha Soup with Corn and Sweet Potato
This vegan riff on the Thai classic has all the sweet, creamy and tangy flavors of the original. If corn isn't in season, feel free to sub in some frozen kernels instead!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Coconut Oil or other neutral oil
- 5 ears Fresh Corn on the Cob kernels removed, cobs reserved
- 1 Jalapeño minced, saving heads for broth
- 2 large Mesilla Peppers diced, or sub 4 jalapeños, 1-2 bird's eye chiles, or any other hot peppers you prefer. Poblanos are great for mild heat!
- 3 small Sweet Potatoes peeled and diced small
- 2 small Yellow Onions diced small, saving peels for broth
- 5-10 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon Fresh Ginger minced
- 5-7 C Water simmered with corn cobs, onion peels and pepper ends to make corn broth; or swap in vegetable broth
- 1 C Coconut Cream or more full-fat coconut milk, or vegan whipping cream.
- 1 can Full-Fat Coconut Milk
- 2 tablespoon Sambal Oelek aka Chili Garlic Paste, or Thai red curry paste
- 1-2 teaspoon Vegan Fish Sauce or Yondu vegetable umami, Bragg’s liquid aminos, coconut aminos, or MSG. Regular fish sauce is great too!
- 1 tablespoon Lime Juice
- 1-2 tablespoon Powdered Lemongrass or 1-2 fresh lemongrass shoots, or 2 drops food grade lemongrass essential oil
- Cilantro Leaves for garnish
- Green Onion for garnish
- Sriracha for garnish
Instructions
- Make Scrap Vegetable Stock. Bring corn cobs, pepper ends, and onion peels to simmer with water in a large pot. Allow to simmer until ready to use.
- Sauté Corn kernels with coconut oil over medium heat, adding kosher salt to taste. When they begin to soften, move on to the next step.
- Add Onions & Peppers. Add the onions, jalapeños, and peppers to the soup pot. Stir occasionally until peppers are softened and corn is beginning to turn golden.
- Add Sweet Potatoes, stirring to coat, then add garlic, ginger, and lemongrass powder, stirring until fragrant.
- Stir in the coconut cream and coconut milk. Strain the veggie broth, and use enough to give the soup an appropriate consistency for your taste. Any broth leftovers can be frozen for up to 6 months.
- Simmer until sweet potatoes are fork-tender.
- Season with Sambal Oelek, lime juice, and fish sauce. (If you are using lemongrass essential oil add it here). Adjust the flavors as necessary. Season with kosher salt to taste.
- Garnish & Serve. Divide into bowls and top with garnishes of choice. Enjoy!
Notes
- Refrigerating. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freezing. Freeze leftovers in airtight containers with at least ½ inch of headroom for expansion, or use freezer-safe zip-top bags. Frozen tom kha soup will keep for up to 6 months.
- Heating. To serve, allow to defrost overnight in the fridge (if needed), then simmer over medium-low heat or microwave in 45-second bursts until warmed through.
- Vegan Tom Kha Gai. If you want to replace the gai (chicken) with a plant-based alternative, Butler’s soy curls are my favorite! Simply rehydrate them in vegan chicken broth before adding to the soup in the last few minutes of simmering.
- Tom Kha Tofu. For more protein that isn’t masquerading as meat, press a block of firm or extra firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes, and add to the soup in the last few minutes of simmering the sweet potatoes in Step 6.
- Lighter. Use a heart-healthy liquid oil (e.g. avocado) in place of the coconut oil, and use full fat coconut milk instead of coconut cream. If you'd like to go a step further, you can use light coconut milk, but make sure to keep the full-fat version as your cream replacer.
- Sweeter. I think the corn, sweet potatoes, and coconut give this sweet n' sour soup plenty of depth of flavor. That said, if you'd like to sweeten the pot, you can add a teaspoon or two of brown sugar, coconut sugar, or palm sugar (jaggery).
- Add-Ins. Feel free to use this creamy soup recipe as a template. You can replace or add whatever veggies you have in the crisper drawer—red bell pepper, bok choy, bamboo shoots, oyster mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms would all be lovely. You're also welcome to add some carbs for heft—serve it over a bed of steamed jasmine rice or add a handful of rice noodles.
- Shortcut. If you don’t have time to prep all the veggies for this vegetarian Thai tom kha soup, just raid the frozen aisle! Chopped onions, sweet potatoes, and corn kernels are readily available. Tubes of jalapeño paste or other spicy green chiles can often be found near the ginger and garlic paste to eliminate another step. Then, just use any vegetable broth or bouillon you like.
Nutrition
Calories: 473kcalCarbohydrates: 53gProtein: 8gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 25gSodium: 638mgPotassium: 996mgFiber: 7gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 14295IUVitamin C: 52mgCalcium: 73mgIron: 5mg
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