Hot and Sour Soup with Mixed Seafood Recipe
 You
can use your favorite combination of seafood for this soup but make sure
it is all absolutely fresh to ensure a delicious taste. The curry paste
will make the soup broth cloudier than if using dried chilies but it
will result in a more complex flavor.
Ingredients: (Serves 4)
600 g/1 lb 5 oz mixed fresh seafood such as:
-
raw shrimps
-
squid tubes
-
mussels
-
white fish fillets
-
scallops
1 liter/4 cups vegetable stock
3 x 4 cm/1.5 inch lemon grass stalks white
part only each cut into a tassel or bruised
6 cilantro (coriander) roots, bruised
2-2½ tablespoons fish sauce
1½-2 tablespoons
Chiang Mai curry paste,
according to taste
2-3 bird's eye chilies, bruised
2 Asian shallots, smashed with the flat side
of a cleaver
110g/4 oz straw or mixed mushrooms, left
whole if small, or quartered if large
150 g/5 oz baby tomatoes or medium tomatoes,
each cut into 6 pieces
8 kaffir lime leaves, torn
3 tablespoons lime juice
Method:
Peel and devein the shrimps and cut each
shrimp along the back so it opens like a butterfly (leave each shrimp
joint along the base and at the tail).
Peel off any skin from the squid tubes,
rinse the insides and cut the tubes into 5 mm/¼ inch rings. If the squid
are very big, cut them in half, open the tubes and slightly score the
inside of each squid with diagonal cuts to make a diamond pattern. Cut
the tubes into pieces about 2 cm/¾ inch square. Remove any dark veins
from the scallops.
Scrub the mussels and remove their hairy
beards. Discard any open mussels and any that don't close when tapped on
the work surface. Cut the fish into 2 cm/¾ inch cubes.
Put the stock, lemon grass, cilantro roots,
fish sauce, curry paste and chilies in a large saucepan and bring to a
boil.
Reduce the heat to medium, add the seafood
and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. (If using mussels, add them after the
tomatoes). Add the shallots, mushrooms, baby tomatoes, kaffir lme leaves
and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, taking care not to let the tomatoes
lose their shape. Taste, add the lime juice, then adjust the seasoning
if necessary. Spoon into a serving bowl and serve while still hot.
Happy Cooking,
Carol |
