Instant Pot Coconut Shrimp Soup (Tom Kha) Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Instant Pot

by: Urvashi Pitre

July8,2021

4.5

17 Ratings

  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 10 minutes
  • Serves 4

Jump to Recipe

Author Notes

From Instant Pot Fast & Easy: "This Thai-style soup is brothy, fragrant, and delicately flavored. While tom kha is typically made with chicken (in which case it’s known as tom kha gai), I like making it with shrimp as a change of pace. This soup reheats very well, and I find the flavors deepen over time. If you plan to serve it a day later, don’t add the shrimp until you’re just about ready to serve the soup. Instead, reheat the soup and add them for the last few minutes of cooking." —Urvashi Pitre

Test Kitchen Notes

COCONUT SHIRMP SOUP (TOM KHA) is excerpted from INSTANT POT FAST & EASY © 2019 by Urvashi Pitre. Photography © 2019 by Ghazalle Badiozamani. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. —The Editors

  • Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients
  • 3 cupschicken broth or water
  • 1/2 poundmedium shrimp, peeled (tails left on) and deveined
  • 1 cupcanned straw mushrooms, undrained
  • 1 (13.5-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
  • 6 to 8 thin slices fresh ginger
  • 2 whole red Thai chiles (optional)
  • 2 tablespoonsfish sauce
  • 1 tablespoonminced fresh lemongrass
  • 1 teaspoonhoney
  • 1/2 teaspoonsalt
  • Grated zest of 1 lime
  • 1/4 cupfresh lime juice (from 2 or 3 limes)
  • Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
  • Lime wedges, for serving
Directions
  1. In the Instant Pot, combine the broth, shrimp, mushrooms and their liquid, half the coconut milk, the ginger, chiles (if using), 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce, the lemongrass, honey, and salt.
  2. Secure the lid on the pot. Close the pressure-release valve. Select MANUAL and set the pot at LOW pressure for 1 minute. At the end of the cooking time, quick release the pressure.
  3. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce, remaining coconut milk, the lime zest, and lime juice.
  4. Divide the soup among four serving bowls. Garnish with cilantro and serve with lime wedges alongside for squeezing.

Tags:

  • Soup
  • American
  • Coconut
  • Lemongrass
  • Lime
  • Shrimp
  • Weeknight Cooking
  • Instant Pot
  • One-Pot Wonders
  • Pressure Cook
  • Sunday Dinner
  • Entertaining

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Marie Yogini Savundranayagam

  • Urvashi Pitre

  • Scott Lewis

  • Erinfett

Dr. Urvashi Pitre is the President of a global marketing consulting firm, as well as the author of several best-selling cookbooks.

Popular on Food52

12 Reviews

Erinfett December 4, 2021

Thoughts on sautéing the shrimp before putting it in the instant pot to get a little more flavor? Is this a bad idea haha?

neenagoswamy January 4, 2021

Really great and SO easy! We followed everything as said and it turned out great. I would like to add more vegggies but not sure what the INstant pot timing should be in that case given the shrimp? Would love to know!

melanie October 30, 2020

Just as described - light, very flavorful, delicious! How would you modify cooking time if using chicken? (Also wondering if you’d throw in the raw chicken at the same time as the other ingredients). Thank you!

Urvashi P. October 31, 2020

So cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and then cook for 2 mins under pressure and 5 mins NPR and it will be delicious!

melanie November 1, 2020

Thank you!

Marie Y. January 7, 2020

Tried this recipe but it requires adjustments. I sauteed one sliced onion, sliced mushrooms (around 8 oz), lemongrass, and two teaspoons of red curry paste prior to adding the other ingredients. It turned out really well.

Krystallynne January 7, 2020

Do you need an instant pot to cook this?

Urvashi P. January 11, 2020

Fair question. Need? Maybe not. Does it infuse the broth with a lot more flavor with a lot less work and faster? Indeed it does.

liliana December 23, 2020

I fully agree. Do not really understand the hot trend for the instant pot.
It takes up space while stove-top results are lovingly tastier.

Cindy January 4, 2020

Why would you use an instant pot for this? Wouldn't it be simpler to just cook it on the stove and let it simmer a while?

Scott L. October 3, 2020

Simpler? It’s one pot to clean either way. It’s be slower. To each their own though.

Patti May 26, 2019

We loved this. 2nd time I made it with bunch of shredded gai lan added after opening the instant pot and before the lime, fish sauce,etc. Let it sit covered 5 min and then added final ingredients: one pot deliciousness

Instant Pot Coconut Shrimp Soup (Tom Kha) Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between Tom Kha and Tom Yum? ›

What is Tom Kah Gai? It's a spicy Thai coconut soup with galangal and chicken. Tom Kha is a creamy-spicy soup, made with coconut milk, whereas Tom Yum is a non-creamy, hot and sour soup, often containing prawns (shrimp).

What to eat with Tom Kha soup? ›

To make a full meal out of this, I recommend serving the tom kha gai with jasmine rice, green papaya salad, and makheua yao pad tao jiao (stir-fried eggplant).

Which is healthier tom yum or Tom Kha soup? ›

Best: Tom Yum Soup

Tom yum has fewer than 100 calories per cup. It also has shrimp, veggies, and fragrant spices, such as lemongrass. Tom yum and other broth-based soups, like tofu-vegetable or wonton, are usually lower in fat and calories than soups made with coconut milk, such as tom kha.

Is Tom Kha soup good for you? ›

Because of its nutritional density and unique spice combination, Tom Kha soup keeps our immune system very strong.

What does tom kha mean in English? ›

Tom Yum Goong Nam Sai from The Local (Michelin Bib Gourmand) Tom kha. Now that we've established that “tom” means “boiling a broth”, knowing that “kha” means galangal will quickly help us understand that this soup's main ingredient is the galangal (don't confuse it with “king” or ginger now!).

How healthy is Tom Yum soup? ›

Tom Yum Soup is good for you, with just 156 calories per serving and very low fat.

What is tom kha in English? ›

What Does Tom Kha Gai Mean? Tom Kha Gai is a popular Thai soup known for its intense galangal, coconut aromatic flavor. The literal translation is “boiled galangal chicken” but can be broken down as: TOM means SOUP or BOILED/COOKED, KHA means galangal root and GAI means chicken.

What is the most popular Thai soup? ›

Tom Yum soup is the most popular Thai soup. In Thai, “tom” translates into “boiled” and “yum” refers to the traditional sour, salty and spicy flavor found in lots of Thai dishes.

What does tom kha paste taste like? ›

This soup has an amazing taste of sweet and sour and savory umami and citrusy aroma from galangal, coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves and lime juices. Tom Kha is similar to Tom Yam, in terms of base ingredients for the broth - lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, chilies, lime juice, sugar and fish sauce.

What is the taste of tom yum? ›

The flavor of tom yum should be sour upfront from lime juice, then salty from fish sauce, with a mild sweetness from nam prik pao paste. You might not be able to necessarily taste the lemongrass and makrut lime leaves, but these aromatics should hit your nose while you slurp.

What does tom kha mean in Thai? ›

'Kha' means galangal and this is one of the main ingredients that emerges from this dish. Galangal looks a lot like ginger, but it has a milder citrusy flavour. To make Tom Kha you use coconut milk so this is a much creamier thicker soup than most.

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