Thai inspired soup

Last week when it was snowing, I really wanted something warm to eat. So I scanned my pantry and realized I could make a Thai inspired noodle soup. It was yummy! Feel free to play around with different ingredients. I used anything and everything in my fridge and pantry that was Asian/Thai inspired. Here is what I came up with….

Makes enough for 4 people

Ingredients

32 fluid ounces of good quality chicken or vegetable stock

½ red pepper finely sliced

1 shallot finely sliced (regular onion will also work)

1 clove of garlic

1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh ginger

3 Kaffir Lime Leaves (no worries if you don’t have them - I used dried and rehydrated them - but they will make it taste more authentic)

1 tablespoon of finely chopped lemongrass (no worries if you don’t have it, but this will make it taste more authentic)

Thai chili – start with a little chopped fresh chili and add more as needed

1 to 3 tablespoons of fish sauce

½ cup of green beans cut into thirds

1 head of baby bok choy finely sliced (regular boy choy also works)

Cooked noodles of choice - Vermicelli, soba or udon noodles

Garnish

2 green onions/scallions finely sliced

3 tablespoons of finely chopped cilantro

3 tablespoons of chopped basil (either Thai or regular basil)

Cut limes

Creating the Magic!

Making the stock: Drizzle some olive oil in a pot. Once it is hot, add the garlic, ginger and onion.  Cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the stock, lime leaves, lemongrass, chili and fish sauce. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.  The longer you leave it, the more fragrant the stock will be.  If your stock needs to be hotter, then add more chili. Add more fish sauce to taste – I find that fish sauce is an acquired taste and not everyone loves it so start with a little and add more as wanted.

Remove the lime leaves. Now you have two options. If you don’t like the taste of biting into the lemongrass, chili, garlic and ginger when you eat your soup, then I would recommend straining your soup so that you are left with the clear liquid. If you like having the adding texture and heat from the ginger, garlic, chili and lemongrass then skip straining your stock. (I love the added zing but my husband doesn’t so I usually strain the soup if we are both eating it). Another idea would be to blend the soup instead of straining but I haven’t tried this.

Creating the soup: Add the finely sliced pepper and the green beans to your stock.  Let them simmer for about 15 minutes (or until they are cooked). Add the boy choy and let it cook for about 5 minutes. It doesn’t need long. Then add your cooked noodles of choice. 

Garnish: Serve the soup in bowls with all the garnish on a separate plate.  This way your guests can ‘create’ their own soup!

Notes: I used whatever vegetables I had on hand. You could also use mushrooms, snap peas, edamame….be creative!

The finished dish! This was a great way to use my weekly delivery of bok choy from 41North.