Hot and Sour Thai Soup

Hot and Sour Thai Soup

This is an easy to make, delicious soup. The recipe is enough for one meal for two with some small amount left over. You may want to make a larger amount because the 2/3 can of straw mushrooms will likely not get used soon after. Any remaining broth can be frozen and eaten later – I would cook the shrimp and noodles freshly for subsequent servings.     

INGREDIENTS

¼ pound small (30 – 35 per pound) shrimp – peeled and butterflied – or I use larger shrimp (about ten) and cut them each into 3 or 4 pieces

2 oz thin rice noodles – vermicelli

2 quarts chicken broth

1 stalk fresh lemongrass, cut in 2 inch pieces and smashed

¼ cup Thai fish sauce

2 tablespoons chili oil

2 tsp lime zest

 ½ pickled chili

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lime

1/3 cup drained, canned straw mushrooms (you will need to find a specialty store – in Vancouver there is one at Granville Island)

¼ cup chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

Bring a medium pot of H2O to a boil. Add shrimp and boil until lightly cooked to taste – about 1 – 2 minutes. Remember raw shrimp is eaten as sashimi, so it does not need much cooking. Use a slotted spoon to transfer shrimp to a colander. Rinse under cold H2O, drain and set aside.

Cook the rice noodles in the same pot of boiling H2O until tender. 2-3 minutes. Drain rinse under cold H2O and drain again. Set aside.

Combine chicken broth with the lemongrass, fish sauce, chili oil, lime zest, pickled chili, lemon juice and lime juice in a wok or soup pot, bring to a simmer and cook, 10 minutes. Strain or use a slotted spoon to remove the lemongrass.

Distribute the rice noodles, shrimp, mushrooms and cilantro among 8 heated soup bowls. Ladle the broth into the bowls and serve.

Delicious.