Easy Chicken Wing Tom Yum Soup

This recipe is a sneak peek from my new cookbook SABAIwhich is all about simple, weeknight-friendly Thai recipes. Tom yum soup is one of the most famous dishes in Thai cuisine, but most people only know the spicy and bold-flavoured version made with shrimp, or tom yum goong.

This chicken wing tom yum soup however has a simpler, cleaner-tasting broth, and it is one of the most soul-soothing dishes we have to offer. I love using chicken wings in soups for reasons I explain belowbut there is also an option to use boneless chicken with a slight modification.

Ingredients

Here are all ingredients you’ll need with some explanations and substitutions. For amounts and instructions, please refer to the recipe card.

• Chicken drumettes. I use drumettes as they are easier to eat in a soup. If you’ve got whole wings, save your flats for fish sauce wings! There is also an option to use boneless chicken thighs (see below).
• Lemongrass
• Galangal – fresh or dried. I keep mine frozen. If you can’t find it, omitting it is fine.
• Makrut lime leaves (aka kaffir lime leaves) – fresh or dried will work.
• Shallotsroughly chopped.
• Oyster mushroomsor another fresh Asian mushroom such as shimeji.
• Cherry tomatoesgrape tomatoes, or a large tomato cut into wedges.
• Dried chilies are traditional, but really we just wanna add some heat in there one way or another! So hot pepper flakes or chopped fresh Thai chilies will also do.
• Fish sauce. Here’s how to choose good fish sauce.
• Lime juice
• Sugar
• Cilantro and/or green onions. Culantro (sawtooth coriander) also works beautifully here if you have it.
• Jasmine rice for serving; though this soup does eat well on its own. Here’s how to make perfect jasmine rice.

How to Make Chicken Wing Tom Yum Soup

Here’s a bird’s eye view of the process. If it’s your first time I highly recommend watching the full video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the chicken wings, shallots, fish sauce and sugar. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is fork tender.
2. Meanwhile, toast the dried chilies in a dry skillet over medium high heat until charred spots form. This takes just a few minutes.
3. After chicken is done simmering, add the lemongrass, galangal, and makrut lime leaves.
4. Add the chilies, breaking them for more heat. Add the mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes.

5. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 2 minutes, or until soft but still holding together.
6. Turn off the heat and add lime juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more fish sauce, lime juice, or sugar as needed. If it is too strong you can add some water.
7. Stir in cilantro and/or green onions to finish.
8. Serve with jasmine rice. See the end of the video for a couple of ways Thai people eat this soup.

Why Use Chicken Wings for Soup?

Chicken wing soup might sound like it would be difficult to eat, but Thai people love using them in soups for a reason. Chicken wings have an extremely high bone-to-meat ratio, and a lot of cartilage, which means that the wings can turn plain water into a broth richer and tastier than anything you can buy.

Also all this can be done in less than 30 minutes, and you can see how rich the broth is by the way any leftovers will gel up in the fridge!

Finally wings don’t require any chopping, and I’m all about less cleanup any time!

Substituting Boneless Chicken

If you don’t want to navigate chicken bones while eating soup, I get it. You can opt to use 1 pound (450 g) bite-sized pieces of boneless chicken thighs instead, but then you must use unsalted or low-sodium chicken stock instead of water in the recipe.

Without the bones, the meat will not produce a rich enough broth, and the soup will not be nearly as good. Check out my recipe for boneless chicken tom yum soup for further info.

What to Serve With Tom Yum Soup

While it’s perfectly acceptable to eat tom yum soup on its own with some jasmine rice, in Thailand it’s typically part of a bigger meal. Since the soup is light and tart, we want to pair it with something dry and/or rich:

Tom Yum Soup with Chicken Wings

A comforting soup infused with lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves; the essence of Thai home cooking. The chicken wings turns plain water into a luxuriously rich and flavourful broth in a short time. This is an excerpt from my cookbook SABAI.