• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Greedygirlgourmet
  • Recipes
  • SEO for Food Blogs
  • Authentic South East Asian Recipes
  • Privacy policy
  • Subscribe
  • Accessibility

Greedy Girl Gourmet

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Under 30 minutes
  • Recipes
  • Blogging
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Under 30 minutes
    • Recipes
    • Blogging
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Meat » Chicken

    Published: Feb 27, 2022 by Zen · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Coconut water chicken soup (Chinese)

    Sharing food makes everyone happy! :)

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    This delicious coconut water chicken soup has a natural sweetness from the coconut (without needing to add sugar), and bright notes from the lemongrass and ginger, making it the perfect light and refreshing soup for a rainy day or when down with a flu

    A bowl of chicken soup with tomatoes and vegetables
    Jump to Recipe
    Jump to:
    • Why make this
    • Ingredients
    • Tips
    • Variations
    • FAQ
    • Other Asian chicken recipes
    • Chinese Coconut water chicken soup with lemongrass & ginger recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    Any Chinese person worth her- or his- salt will know that ginger warms the body and so, when the weather is chilly or after getting caught in snow or rain, one should drink some ginger tea or chicken soup to avoid catching a cold. (Conversely, one can also fall ill when one is too heaty and should then eat "cooling" foods.) This Chinese coconut water chicken soup with ginger and lemongrass is a delicious union of 2 flu-busting and healthy ingredients!

    The first time I drank ginger soup was on a school trip to Taiwan: we had gotten drenched walking up Taiwan's famous Alishan (Mountain). Our concerned seniors promptly made us ginger soup and not one of us fell sick, which I attribute to the soul-warming soup! Although Traditional Chinese Medicine doesn't always have the best reputation, the warming properties of ginger are real- I say this based on extensive personal experience 😛 as well as actual scientific research. Other warming recipes include ginger red date and longan tea as well as osmanthus tea.

    Note: this information is not meant as dietary or nutritional advice, but FYI only!

    Why make this

    This coconut water & ginger chicken soup recipe is something my family has made many times and is very versatile:

    • - it's good as a side dish of soup (Chinese people like to have soup with every meal)
    • - OR as a main with noodles
      • - OR as a main dish with rice in it. (Submerged rice, or pao fan, is different from porridge/congee in that the rice is cooked before being added to the soup as in this golden Chinese pumpkin rice with soup. The rice in pao fan is not cooked in the broth, unlike congee such as this Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice Porridge. This point may seem trivial but it affects the clarify of the soup as cooking the rice in the soup releases starches into the soup which makes it thicker and less clear.) 
      • - It's healthy: unlike the usual chicken coconut soup, this Chinese recipe uses coconut water instead of coconut milk or cream, so it has less fat.
      • - Best of all, it's a super easy recipe!

    Tip: If you like soupy noodles, you may also be interested in this quick and easy Chinese vegan wonton soup recipe that's ready in 20 minutes but doesn't need shop bought stock/ stock powder/ bouillon cubes etc.

    Ingredients

    The main ingredients in this light Chinese lemongrass chicken soup are:

    1. a young coconut
      • Substitute: bottled coconut water
      • If you have extra coconut water to use up, you can also use it in desserts such as this coconut water agar agar jelly.
    2. chicken stock
      • Substitute: chicken stock powder (dissolve it in the coconut juice)
    3. lemon grass
      • In UK and Singapore, you can't buy 1 or 2 stalks of lemongrass but need a whole bunch. Pop them in a glass of water to keep them fresh for a long time- they'll grow roots, and when you cut off the tops, you can plant the bottom 2-3 inches to get yourself a new lemongrass! If you've problems using up your lemongrass stash, try these Asian lemongrass recipes.
    4. fresh ginger slices
    5. fish sauce
      • Substitute: soy sauce (please use fish sauce if you can find it- it is much better with the tropical aromas of this recipe)
    6. lime juice
      • Substitute: lemon juice
    7. Optional: green onion or toasted dried shrimp as garnish

    If you've never used coconut water in your cooking before, I promise that this coconut chicken soup recipe will be revelatory: it brings a natural sweetness to your cooking, eliminating the need for any additional refined sugar- healthy and delicious!

    No sugar added agar agar jelly presented in a coconut husk
    You can also use coconut water to make no-sugar jelly. See how uneven the coconut lid is above? That's cuz we sliced it off ourselves, hence why I recommend buying pre-sliced coconuts. It's not very pleasant to find little bits of coconut husk in your food!


    Tips

    1. To up your game, so to speak, you can skip the shop-bought chicken broth and make this soup by double boiling chicken meat in the fresh coconuts directly (along with all the other ingredients in this recipe.) This slow cooking will help the chicken release its natural flavours directly into the coconut- just make sure you pour out the coconut juice before adding the chicken, then adding the liquid back into the shell (if not it will spill everywhere.) People are also always very impressed when they see the soup being served in the coconut shells!
    2. If getting your coconut from a fruit seller ask them to help you cut the top of the coconut off to make your life easier. (Alternatively, choose pre-cut coconuts at the supermarket. If living outside Asia, these will most likely only be available at the Asian supermarket.)
    3. The coconut flesh (white part) can be eaten after you have drunk the soup- it will be soft and tender after being double boiled.

    Variations

    1. If you add galangal and Kaffir Lime leaf to the soup pot, you get something very similar to the Thai flavours in Tom Yum Soup.
    2. Add chilli paste and some light coconut milk to the above, and it's Tom Kha Gai.

    FAQ

    Why use fresh coconut water in cooking?

    It adds a hint of sweetness to the food, without the need for a pinch of sugar. (Too much refined sugar isn't good.) Some recipes which use coconut water include agar agar jelly, thit kho (Vietnamese braised pork) and Chinese coconut water chicken soup.

    Other Asian chicken recipes

    • A plate of Cantonese soy sauce with white rice and green onions.
      Best Poached One Pot Soy Sauce Chicken
    • Lots of chicken wings heaped with gochujang sauce on parchment paper.
      11 easy Asian Chicken Wing Recipes
    • 2 baked chicken wings that are super crispy and have been tossed in a sticky Vietnamese glaze.
      Crispy Fish Sauce Chicken Wings (Baked)
    • A plate of soy sauce chicken with hard boiled egg and spicy sambal
      Easy Chinese Braised Soy Sauce Chicken Thighs
    A close-up of coconut chicken soup with ginger and lots of ingredients

    Chinese Coconut water chicken soup with lemongrass & ginger recipe

    Zen
    A light but warming chicken soup that makes one feel better when sick or when it's raining. No sugar necessary thanks to the natural sweetness of the young coconut.
    5 from 37 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 5 mins
    Cook Time 15 mins
    Course Soup
    Cuisine Chinese
    Servings 4 people

    Equipment

    • Pot

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 cups chicken stock Can be substituted with vegetable or seafood stock
    • 2 cups coconut water I’ve used both fresh and bottled but, if the latter, make sure it’s pure coconut water. If using fresh, try to get a young coconut.
    • 1 big shallot halved and peeledn (Substiute: onion, preferably red)
    • 2 lemongrass Root ends cut off and bashed with the back of a knife to release the fragrance. Pop the root ends into water- leave at least 1 inch on the root- to grow yourself a new lemongrass!
    • 3 thinly sliced pieces of ginger
    • 3 tomatoes (Cut into 6 pieces- 4 is too chunky) Don't add too many or the soup will be toosweet. Likewise, if you use cherry tomatoes instead, you will need to increase the amount of lime juice as cherry tomatoes are sweeter than regular ones.
    •  1-2 tablespoons lime juice The acidity is necessary to lift the taste as well as to balance the sweetness of the coconut water. Substitute: lemon juice
    • Fish sauce to taste Can be substituted with salt- the flavour will have slightly less depth but will still be tasty

    Instructions
     

    • Add the chicken stock, coconut water, lemongrass, ginger and shallot to a pot. Cover and bring to a boil.
    • Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat and let the soup simmer. You should be able to smell the fragrance of the herbs after 5 minutes, if not increase the heat slightly . Allow the soup to simmer for another 10-15 minutes to extract all the fragrance of the herbs.
    • Add the tomatoes and lime juice & allow the soup to return to the boil.
    • Season with fish sauce, or salt, to your taste.
    • The above makes the basic soup base which can be drunk as it is. You can also add prawns,chicken, fish, abalone, Chinese cabbage, mushrooms and chilli to the soup for a heartier dish.
    • To bulk the dish into a main, add either noodles or rice. I like to add tang hoon (mung/ greenbean vermicelli) which is first soaked in hot water. Once the noodles have softened, they are then added to the soup. Give everything a stir for 1-2minutes then serve.
    • Alternatively, you could add cooked rice to the soup once the soup has finished simmering to make “paofan” or submerged rice.

    Notes

    This serves 4 people as a side dish of soup or 2 people as a main (with noodles or rice)
    Remove the lemongrass and ginger before serving as they’re not easy to bite/eat. The shallots can be eaten but the texture isn’t great after simmering (it’s mushy), so you may want to remove it from the soup as well.
    You can pimp up the dish by adding various toppings such as: tau kee (fried beancurd), fried dried prawns (hae bee), spring onions etc
    If you really want to impress, you can make this soup by double boiling chicken meat in coconut water inside a coconut shell (you will need to remove some of the coconut liquid or it will overflow) along with the rest of the ingredients! 
     
    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @GreedyGirlGourmet or tag #greedygirlgourmet!

    If you already use coconut water in your cooking, I'd love to hear about your recipe and to see photos of your Chinese coconut water chicken soup on social media- to tag me at @greedygirlgourmet!

    I have other recipes you may like here! :)

    • Close-up of gochujang butternut squash baked fries.
      24 Asian Side Dishes for Chicken Tenders
    • A Dutch oven full of Chinese ginseng chicken soup, goji berries and dried jujubes.
      Chinese Ginseng Chicken Soup (4-ingredients)
    • A roasted whole chicken with a spicy charred glaze on the skin.
      12 Date Night Chicken Recipes (Asian)
    • A roasted whole chicken with a spicy charred glaze on the skin.
      Korean Gochujang Chicken

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Komal Singh says

      March 03, 2022 at 3:06 am

      5 stars
      I love both ginger and chicken and am so intrigued to try this recipe!

      Reply
      • Zen says

        March 11, 2022 at 12:43 pm

        Thanks for popping by Komal, chicken & ginger are an awesome combo, hope u will like this soup!

        Reply
      • Zen says

        March 19, 2022 at 1:42 pm

        Thanks Komal, ginger and chicken go so well don't they?

        Reply
    2. Heather says

      March 02, 2022 at 4:28 pm

      5 stars
      This soup looks beautiful and delicious! Recently, I have been using a lot of ginger and coconut water, so I can't wait to try this. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
      • Zen says

        March 19, 2022 at 1:42 pm

        Thanks Heather, I hope you like this. I love cooking with coconut water!

        Reply
    3. Dorenecheo says

      February 03, 2021 at 11:21 am

      5 stars
      I love soup - believe that it is good for complexion so I had my domestic helper cooked this dish following your recipe. A big thank you : had the fish every day of last week - so tasty and good.

      Reply
      • Zen says

        February 27, 2021 at 1:24 pm

        Yes, growing up we had soup at every lunch and dinner!! Way before bone broth became trendy!!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Greedygirlgourmet eating 2 sandwiches in Scotland

    Hi I'm Zhen also known as GGG! I couldn't boil water till I was 18 but after living abroad (in St. Andrews then London) for 11 years and having to cook for myself, I now love cooking for friends and family. Learning to cook late, I make sure my recipes go into enough detail for those new to Asian cuisine or who love a test kitchen approach to cooking!

    More about GGG ->

    Under 30 Minutes

    • A plate of coconut jelly and pandan jelly arranged as a flower.
      Coconut Jelly (Dim Sum) (3-ingredients)
    • Cup of pink lychee juice with a lemon.
      Easy Lychee Juice Recipe
    • A jar of homemade pickled cucumbers with chilies and an onion next to it.
      Asian Quick Pickled Cucumbers (5-min)
    • A glass of cold brew coffee with milk and ice.
      Cold Brew Latte (3-ingredients)

    Popular Dishes

    • A plate of seared mushrooms tossed in a butter soy sauce.
      Quick Eryngii Mushrooms (3-ingredients)
    • A plate of Cantonese soy sauce with white rice and green onions.
      Best Poached One Pot Soy Sauce Chicken
    • A golden yuzu marmalade jelly in the shape of a flower decorated with lemon zest
      Yuzu konnyaku jelly recipe (15 minutes)
    • 2 glasses of milk tea with brown streaks on the walls of the glasses.
      Tiger Milk Tea Boba (3-ingredients)

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Greedygirlgourmet
    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility Policy
    • All Recipes

    Newsletter

    • Sign up here!

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Buy Me a Coffee :)

    As an Amazon Associate, at no cost to you, I earn from qualifying purchases :)

    Copyright © 2023 GreedyGirlGourmet