---
title: "Commercial Thai Soup Recipe"
description: "A commercial Thai soup recipe for 40 starter portions, using a stable hot-and-sour base, controlled thickening and fast per-order finishing."
url: https://rosuii.com/recipes/thai-soup-recipe
lang: en
course: starter
cuisine: Thai
difficulty: medium
prep_minutes: 30
cook_minutes: 45
total_minutes: 75
yield: "about 40 plates"
servings: 40
tags: ["chicken", "prawn", "spicy", "soup", "quick"]
source: Rosuii (https://rosuii.com)
---

# Commercial Thai Soup Recipe

A commercial Thai soup recipe for 40 starter portions, using a stable hot-and-sour base, controlled thickening and fast per-order finishing.

## Ingredients

- 400 g Carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
- 400 g Green capsicum, cut into thin strips
- 600 g Button mushroom, thinly sliced
- 120 ml Soybean oil
- 150 g Ginger, finely minced
- 150 g Garlic, finely minced
- 120 g Lemongrass, bruised and finely sliced
- 60 g Green chilli, finely sliced
- 6.5 L Chicken stock, unsalted or lightly salted
- 1.2 kg Boneless chicken, cut into thin strips
- 600 g Prawns, peeled, deveined and drained
- 250 ml Light soy sauce
- 150 ml Fish sauce
- 450 ml Red chilli sauce
- 300 ml White vinegar
- 160 g Sugar
- 300 g Cornflour, mixed with 600 ml cold water
- 10 large Eggs, lightly beaten
- 200 ml Lemon juice, freshly squeezed and strained
- 150 g Coriander leaves, chopped

## Equipment

- 20 litre stainless-steel stockpot
- Commercial burner or induction cooker
- Digital probe thermometer
- Fine-mesh strainer
- Stainless-steel cooling pans
- 500 to 700 ml service saucepan
- Marked 210 ml ladle

## Method

1. **Blanch the vegetables** — Bring a separate pot of water to a rolling boil at about 100°C. Blanch the carrot for 45 seconds, then add the capsicum and mushrooms for another 30 seconds. Drain immediately and cool to 5°C or below; the vegetables should remain brightly coloured and firm.
2. **Sweat the aromatics** — Heat the soybean oil in the stockpot over medium heat to about 150°C. Add ginger, garlic, lemongrass and green chilli, then cook for 2 to 3 minutes without browning. The mixture should smell fragrant but remain pale.
3. **Start the soup base** — Add the chicken stock and bring it to a gentle simmer at 90°C to 95°C. Scrape the bottom to release the aromatics and simmer for 5 minutes. Avoid a hard rolling boil, which drives off aroma and increases evaporation.
4. **Poach the chicken** — Add the chicken strips gradually so the pieces remain separated. Maintain 85°C to 90°C for 5 to 7 minutes, until the thickest pieces reach 74°C and no pink centre remains. Remove with a strainer and spread in a shallow pan.
5. **Cook the prawns** — Return the base to 85°C to 90°C and add the drained prawns. Poach for 2 to 3 minutes until opaque and curled into a loose C shape. Remove immediately and cool with the chicken to 5°C or below if not serving at once.
6. **Season the broth** — Stir in the soy sauce, fish sauce, chilli sauce, vinegar and sugar. Simmer at 90°C to 95°C for 4 minutes, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Cool a spoonful briefly and check for a savoury, sour taste with a clean chilli finish.
7. **Thicken the base** — Stir the cornflour slurry thoroughly because settled starch will produce uneven thickening. Pour it slowly into the simmering broth while stirring continuously, then cook for 3 to 4 minutes at 90°C to 95°C. The base should lightly coat a spoon but still pour freely.
8. **Form the egg ribbons** — Reduce the movement of the soup to a gentle simmer and pour in the beaten eggs in a thin stream. Wait 10 seconds, then stir slowly in one direction for 30 to 45 seconds. Fine cooked ribbons should appear without turning the base cloudy.
9. **Finish and standardise** — Remove the pot from direct heat and stir in the lemon juice. Strain out any large lemongrass fibres if necessary, then measure the base and adjust with hot unsalted stock to 8.4 L. Hold above 63°C or cool rapidly to 5°C or below.
10. **Pack the garnish** — Combine the cooled chicken, prawns, carrots, capsicum and mushrooms, then divide them evenly into 40 covered portions. Keep the packs at 5°C or below and use within 24 hours. Each pack should contain a consistent mix rather than being divided by appearance alone.
11. **Finish each order** — Place 210 ml hot base and one garnish pack in a small saucepan. Bring the soup to at least 74°C for 60 to 90 seconds, stirring once without prolonged boiling. Transfer to a 250 ml bowl and finish with measured coriander.

## Notes

**This thai soup recipe produces about 40 consistent starter portions for a restaurant, cafe or food cart.** It follows the thick, hot-and-sour style commonly sold as Thai soup in Bangladesh. The production method separates the cooked base from the protein and vegetables, allowing fast service without leaving everything to soften in one stockpot.

## Why this soup suits commercial service

**Thai soup works commercially because one controlled base can be finished quickly for each order.** The flavour is strong enough for a starter, while chicken, prawns, mushrooms and vegetables give the portion visible value. Most preparation can be completed before service, and an order can be heated and dispatched in about 90 seconds.

A single-pot method may appear easier, but it creates waste during slow service. Prawns become rubbery, capsicum loses colour, carrots soften and the soup becomes thicker as water evaporates. Separating the base and garnish protects both quality and yield.

## Building the hot-and-sour balance

**A successful batch should taste savoury first, sour second and hot at the finish.** Soy sauce, fish sauce and stock provide salt and umami. Chilli sauce contributes heat, colour, sweetness and body, while vinegar supplies a stable background acidity that survives hot holding.

Fresh lemon juice should be added late because long boiling weakens its fresh aroma. Do not judge the final balance while the soup is extremely hot. Cool a spoonful for 20 to 30 seconds, taste it, and adjust in small measured amounts. Acidity and salt become easier to detect as the sample cools.

Sugar is not added to make the soup sweet. It rounds off harsh vinegar and chilli. If the soup tastes flat, check salt before adding more acid. If it tastes sharp but thin, a small sugar adjustment may be more useful than adding extra chilli sauce.

### Where ingredient quality matters

**Stock, prawns, aromatics and acid have the greatest effect on final quality.** Use a clean chicken stock without excessive salt, because salty stock limits how much soy sauce and fish sauce can be used. A cloudy stock is acceptable in this thick style, but stale fat or burnt bones will remain noticeable.

Prawns should smell clean and remain firm after thawing. Drain thawed prawns fully so released water does not weaken the garnish. Fresh ginger, garlic and lemongrass should smell bright when cut; dried or fibrous aromatics produce less fragrance. Use one consistent brand of chilli sauce and vinegar because sweetness, heat and acidity vary significantly between suppliers.

## Production method beyond the basic steps

**The safest production system is to prepare a measured base and chilled garnish packs separately.** Blanching the vegetables briefly sets their colour and removes the raw edge. Rapid cooling stops carryover cooking, which is essential for capsicum and thin carrot strips.

Poach the chicken gently rather than boiling it aggressively. Strong boiling tightens the meat, clouds the broth and increases cooking loss. Prawns need even less time and should be removed as soon as they turn opaque and curl into a loose C shape. A tightly curled O shape usually indicates overcooking.

### Control the thickening

**Cornflour should create light body without turning the soup into a paste.** The base must be simmering when the slurry is added, and the slurry must be stirred again immediately before pouring because starch settles quickly. Add it gradually while stirring, then allow enough simmering time for the raw starch taste to disappear.

Hot holding continues to evaporate water and can make starch-thickened soup heavier. Keep a small amount of unsalted hot stock available for correction. Never dilute with cold water during service because it drops the food below a safe holding temperature and weakens the flavour.

### Finish each order quickly

**Per-order finishing keeps vegetables crisp and prevents seafood from overcooking.** Hold only the base hot, with cooked protein and vegetables in covered containers at 5°C or below. For each sale, combine one measured base portion with one measured garnish pack and heat it rapidly to at least 74°C.

A small induction cooker or high-output burner works well for food carts because each order can be finished in a 500 to 700 ml saucepan. Do not return reheated leftovers to the main base. This contaminates the batch, changes its thickness and destroys portion records.

## Scaling the batch correctly

**Scale every ingredient by weight or volume, but adjust acid, salt and chilli only after tasting the hot batch.** A half batch uses 0.5 of every listed quantity and should produce about 20 portions. A double batch uses twice the ingredients, but it should be divided between two pots unless the kitchen has a kettle that allows steady circulation and even heating.

Large pots reduce evaporation relative to volume, so a doubled batch may taste weaker if finished only by cooking time. Standardise it by final measured base volume rather than by appearance. Record the volume before service and compare it with actual sales through proper [portion control](/blog/restaurant-portion-control-guide).

Do not scale cooking time in direct proportion to quantity. A larger batch takes longer to reach a simmer, but chicken strips and prawns still require roughly the same cooking time once the liquid returns to the correct temperature.

## Holding, cooling and reheating

**Hold the soup base at 63°C or above and use it within four hours for the best service quality.** Keep the pot covered between orders and stir from the bottom every 10 to 15 minutes. Use a thermometer rather than relying on visible steam.

If the base is prepared ahead, cool it from 60°C to 21°C within two hours and from 21°C to 5°C within a further four hours. Shallow pans, an ice bath or a blast chiller are suitable; a deep covered stockpot in a refrigerator is not. Store the base at 5°C or below for up to 48 hours, and store cooked chicken, prawns and vegetables separately for no longer than 24 hours for best quality.

Reheat the base rapidly to at least 74°C before transferring it to hot holding. Reheat only once. Discard any batch that has remained below 63°C for an uncontrolled period or shows sour fermentation, gas, separation or an unusual smell.

## Portioning and yield control

**The target serving is one 250 ml bowl made with about 210 ml base and one garnish portion.** Use a marked ladle or measured cup rather than filling bowls by eye. Divide the cooked chicken, prawns, mushrooms and vegetables into 40 equal packs before service so early customers do not receive heavier portions than later customers.

Check the actual finished yield after every batch because evaporation, trimming and seafood drainage can change it. Record overproduction, burnt base, dropped garnish and unsold portions as wastage instead of hiding them inside food cost. Rosuii can record the soup base as a production, track stock items and suppliers, and compare item sales with wastage without claiming automatic recipe deduction per menu item.

## Mistakes that cost money

**The most expensive mistakes are overcooking prawns, free-pouring sauces and holding vegetables in the base.** Overcooked prawns lose weight and customer value. Unmeasured sauce additions make one batch too salty and the next too sour, preventing reliable training and costing.

- **Boiling after adding lemon:** This removes fresh citrus aroma and encourages repeated, costly adjustment.
- **Adding dry cornflour:** It creates lumps that cannot be removed without straining out useful ingredients.
- **Using one ladle for every bowl:** Different ladle sizes or incomplete fills create uncontrolled yield.
- **Mixing old and new batches:** The older starch base becomes progressively thicker and makes shelf-life tracking unreliable.
- **Ignoring garnish drainage:** Water from thawed prawns or washed vegetables dilutes the soup and changes portion volume.

## Keeping food cost stable

**Stable cost comes from fixed garnish weights, supplier specifications and measured sauce use.** Prawns and chicken require the closest purchasing control because size, glazing, trimming and cooking loss alter usable yield. Compare suppliers by drained and trimmed weight, not only by the weight printed on the pack.

Use a written [recipe costing](/blog/recipe-costing-restaurant) sheet and review the actual [food cost percentage](/blog/food-cost-percentage) when seafood prices or portion sizes change. Do not quietly reduce the amount of base or garnish. If cost pressure requires a change, create a documented chicken-only variation or revise the selling format so staff and customers receive a consistent product.

## Cost drivers

Prawns and boneless chicken dominate the ingredient cost, with prawn size, glazing, seasonal supply and trimming loss causing the largest movement. Branded sauces also affect cost when staff free-pour them, so fixed measurements and consistent suppliers are important.

## FAQ

### Can this Thai soup recipe be doubled for 80 portions?

Yes. Double every measured ingredient, but use two stockpots unless one kettle can heat and circulate the batch evenly. Standardise the finished base to 16.8 L and divide the garnish into 80 equal packs.

### How long can the soup stay in hot holding?

Keep the base at 63°C or above and aim to sell it within four hours for the best texture. Stir every 10 to 15 minutes and correct evaporation only with hot unsalted stock.

### What can replace fish sauce?

Light soy sauce can provide salt and some savouriness, but it will not reproduce the seafood depth of fish sauce. If replacing it, add soy gradually and taste the cooled sample because a direct equal-volume substitution may make the soup too dark or salty.

### What is the refrigerated shelf life?

Rapidly cooled base can be stored at 5°C or below for up to 48 hours. Cooked chicken, prawns and vegetables should be stored separately and used within 24 hours for the best safety, colour and texture.

### Why did the batch produce fewer than 40 bowls?

The usual causes are excessive boiling, oversized ladles, heavy early portions or failure to standardise the base volume. Measure the finished base to 8.4 L and use one 210 ml base portion plus one garnish pack for every bowl.

---
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