Luckily, I have not run out of things to cook. In addition to my regular home cooking and blog cooking, I am also recipe testing and writing for a couple of cookbooks. One is a soup cookbook, and I am absolutely loving it. I knew I liked soup and enjoyed making it, but I didn’t know just how much.
Soup is, of course, a primal food. Cave-dwelling women were almost certainly making soup from leaves, berries, and woolly mammoth leftovers while the menfolk were out looking for something else to spear. Archaeologist John Speth (Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) points to evidence of boiling things over hot rocks dating back at least 25,000 years, and he figures soup making may well predate that. It seems bark and skin cooking vessels don’t show up much in the fossil record, unlike the way your basic Le Creuset French oven probably will. Soup making is in my DNA and yours, and may have originated in ancient Asia, where pottery–think soup bowls!–was likely invented.
Speaking of Asia, the soup I’m insisting you make today is inspired by Thai cuisine. Yes, it’s a recipe I’ve worked up for the cookbook, but this soup is so good I want everybody to make it right now. Don’t wait for the cookbook to come out! It’s so good I’ve made it twice this week. In fact, it’s so good that when I made a chicken batch for a sick friend who wanted something spicy, I almost didn’t take it to her. In my defense I had made chicken turmeric soup for her, too. Ultimately, I dropped both soups off, and stopped by the grocery store on the way home so I could make another batch of Spicy Thai Soup for me. I did it with shrimp the second time. Did I mention that it’s really just so, so good?
The only exotic ingredient is red curry paste which is inexpensive and readily available on the international aisle in most large grocery stores, or in Asian markets, or at World Market, or on Amazon. If you really can’t find any, you should know that curry powder isn’t a substitute for curry paste. The flavor is nowhere near the same. Green curry paste will work, but it’s a little milder. Honestly, in a pinch I’d use a little sriracha or even some extra red pepper flakes, and then up the ginger and garlic a tad, and maybe add the zest from the limes. It’s soup! You have some wiggle room.
Enjoy!
Spicy Thai Chicken or Shrimp Soup
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast or ¾ lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 4 limes, total
- salt and pepper
- 2 T. neutral oil or coconut oil--plus a bit more if needed
- 8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 t. powdered ginger
- 2 T. red curry paste--found on the international aisle of the grocery store
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 1/4 t. red pepper flakes
- 2 egg yolks (see note)
- Cilantro and the last lime cut into wedges for garnish
Instructions
- Put either the chicken or shrimp on a plate, squeeze the juice of one lime over. Season generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- In a 2-quart saucepan heat the oil and, if using shrimp, cook them over medium heat until just done. Do not overcook. Remove shrimp from the pan and set aside. Add the mushrooms, red pepper, and scallions to the same pan--adding another splash of oil if necessary. Sauté the vegetables until they’re wilted. Add the garlic, ginger, and curry paste and stir for a minute or so until fragrant. Stir in the chicken stock, coconut milk, and the juice of two limes. Simmer over medium low heatfor 15 minutes. Turn the heat to low and add the chicken or shrimp to the pot. Cook gently until hot through, just a few minutes more.
- Put the egg yolks in a small bowl and add 2 T. of the hot soup. Immediately beat well and add back to the soup, stirring to completely combine. (See note.)
- Serve with chopped or torn cilantro and lime wedges.
And I remain grateful that you so selflessly dropped mine off and made more. I’m not a medical professional or anything but surely it went a long way to curing me from Covid.
LOL! I really think you would’ve gotten better anyway, but I’m glad you liked it>
Delicious and also an easy recipe to follow! Definitely one to impress your family or friends!
I’m so glad you like it! Thanks a ton for letting me know.