Thai Hot and Sour Soup

This has to be my absolute favourite soup from Southeast Asia. Soups from Europe and the US tend to be a meal in their own right however Asian soups are crisp, light and refreshing and are the perfect appetiser.

Whenever I go out for Asian food, I can never resist hot and sour soup, try as I might to sample the other delights on offer, the chilli addict in me always wins through.

I feel that I should point out the obvious, and say that this soup is HOT. Note the capitals. Cut back on the chilli and reduce the tom yum if you want the taste without the burn, however this soup is supposed to make you sweat and get the endorphins going!

Incidentally, the heat from the chilli makes you perspire and helps to cleanse your pores, much like a sauna, but on the inside.

The recipe is highly adaptable, so I have included a few variations including an extra special soup for a dinner party, plus a vegan hot and sour soup version. Personally, I think the seafood hot and sour soup is by far the best.

Feel free to mix and match ingredients. Have seafood with chicken if it takes your fancy, fancy surf and turf - go for beef with prawns. Fancy a Thai hot and sour seafood gumbo, go for it. You can really have some fun with this recipe!

Enough of me rambling on – there’s soup to be made!

Thai Hot and Sour Soup Recipe

Time: 10 minutes not including

Serves 4

• 2 Pints of chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon tom yum paste
• 1 Clove garlic, minced
• 3 Stalks lemon grass, tough outer leaves removed - Inner part finely chopped
• Grated zest of 1 lime
• 1 Plump chicken breast, shredded
• 3 Tablespoons Thai fish sauce (Nam Pla)
• 3 Tablespoons lime juice
• 2 Green chillies, finely sliced (deseeded if preferred)
• 2 Teaspoons palm sugar
• The green part of one spring onion (scallion) finely sliced
• Handful of chopped coriander, including stalks
• Handful chopped fresh basil,(Thai basil if you can get it)

1. In a large saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Stir in the tom yum paste and garlic, and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the lemon grass and lime zest. Place the chicken in the saucepan, and cook 5 minutes or until cooked through.
2. If using fresh cook for 4 minutes until tender, or just add the strained mushrooms, fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar and green chilli pepper. Simmer for a couple of minutes.
3. Take off the heat and stir in the basil and coriander and serve immediately

It’s so simple, it’s so quick, and so tasty, it has to be one of my favourite all time recipes. However over the years I have experimented and if you want something really special then try this one.

This version is quite simply spectacular, it’s the same as above but with prawns. Just replace the chicken breast with 1lb of cooked king prawns.

1. Wash the cooked prawns, peel them and de-vein them, saving the heads and shells.
2. In a large saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add in the prawn heads and shells and boil for 2 minutes, skimming off any scum which comes to the surface. Simmer for 3 minutes and strain. Wash out the pan to remove any excess scum and return the chicken/prawn stock to the pan.
3. Stir in the tom yum paste and garlic, and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the lemon grass and lime zest and simmer for 2 minutes. Mix in the mushrooms. Add the fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar and green chilli pepper. Simmer for a couple more minutes.
4. Add the cooked prawns for 30 seconds to heat through, remove from the heat and stir in the basil and coriander. Taste it, adjust the fish sauce and lime juice balance if it needs it, then serve. Make sure the prawns are evenly distributed if you want to avoid a fight at the dinner table.

If you want to make this soup extra special for a dinner party, before adding the prawns, add one cleaned scallop per person and simmer until the scallops are just cooked (2-3 minutes), then add the prawns and herbs.

For a veggie or vegan version use vegetable stock and replace the chicken with tofu. Add this at the end and heat through for 30 seconds.

I always struggle to find lemon grass where I live, so often make it without it. If you like it hotter, add 1.5 tbsp of tom yum or use more chilli pepper. The tom yum paste has a fair amount of chilli in it already  so be careful not to overdo it! If you prefer it a little sweeter, add more palm sugar.

But I made it this morning and it worked a treat. A bit of a strange breakfast I grant you, but I couldn't get any fresh coriander yesterday and I needed to get this done in time to qualify for the Hubpages competition! I’m a bit garlicky now, but do I care? In fact, I think l have another bowl!!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I have over the years - Its as good as you will get in most Thai restaurants!