Winter Warmers: Thai Clear Soups

Tome Yum Soup with Mushroom & Tofu

With the mercury hitting south in our part of the globe, our kitchen smells of sizzling pots of soups, rasams and dals. Sizzling bowl of soup with warm bread straight from the oven or steaming cup of rice with hot Rasam/Dal is what we crave for. After my successful attempt at making Thai Curries, I was keen to learn and cook something new. Thai food is greatly influenced by its neighbours, India, China, Malaysia and Laos. No wonder our Indian taste buds start singing and dancing when tasting Thai food, an explosion of salty, spicy, sweet and sour flavours that sparkle with personality. The four main Thai flavour groupings are salty (from fish sauce), sweet (from coconut and palm sugar), spicy (from dry and fresh chillies) and sour (tamarind, lime, lemongrass), with the less used bitter as a fifth primary flavour. These five primary flavours are the characteristics of Thai cooking, something to touch and delight every taste bud.

As I said in my earlier post, don’t get intimidated by the unfamiliar ingredients used in Thai cooking. There are good substitutes available which you can use if few ingredients are not available in your local shop or you can omit those ingredients which you are not very fond of. And more importantly, don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste. While cooking Thai food at home, we found that the food tasted much better than the one from local Thai restaurant. And why it shouldn’t, with freshest of fresh ingredients used, homemade curry pastes and spices made a whole difference. You will never get to see the liberal use of fresh ingredients in any restaurant as at home. Many people shy away from cooking Thai food under the misconception that it takes lot of time and ingredients which are unfamiliar to them. Something magical is created when you cook Thai food or any foreign food over time and the ingredients which were aliens in the beginning become more familiar. I find the time consuming dishes more rewarding. Believe me when I say it is as close as meditation when you get to use mortar and pestle and pound out day’s anxiety.

With today’s recipes we want to prove that Thai cuisine can be as simple as it can get and you need not use many ingredients to taste some authentic Thai fair. By planning ahead and little preparation everyone can cook delicious Thai food which sure to please every taste bud. Make sure you use the best and freshest ingredients and be flexible. Cook with an air of playfulness, experiment with flavour and learn to balance. If you are not sure and nervous, follow the recipe strictly and pay careful attention to the final result. As you taste the dish, think to yourself: is it spicy/sweet/sour/salty enough? Does it suit your palate? Most importantly, remember to please yourself-cook the food the way you like it because it should taste good to you and enjoy the whole process. Every time we experiment and cook, we learn something new. Cooking is as refreshing as meditation with delicious food as a reward and nobody can say no to this delicious reward :)

Armed with our new acquisition Real Vegetarian Thai by Nancie McDermott to our empty cookbook rack we tried two Thai clear soups, Tome Yum Soup with Mushroom & Tofu and Jasmine Rice Soup with Mushrooms, Green Onions & Crispy Garlic. As author says, “Soup is an essential component of almost every meal, served and savored along with rice and its accompanying dishes. In keeping with Thailand’s Chinese culinary ancestry, soup functions as a beverage, a liquid refreshment that cleanses the palate between bites and makes way for further rides on roller coaster of tastes that make up a classic Thai meal.” Most of the Thai Vegetarian recipes are also perfect for Vegans and I thought these soups will be a perfect entries for this Vegan Month. These two Thai Clear Soup goes to Suganya's Vegan Ventures Event.

Nancie says,

“Tome Yum Soup with Mushroom & Tofu is a one bowl celebration of Thailand’s sparkling cuisine. Spicy hot with roasted chilli paste and sharply fragrant with lemongrass, wild lime leaves, and a squeeze of lime, tome yum sounds an inviting reveille to your senses.”

And I totally agree with her. This delicious flame-colored broth studded with green herbs and vegetables with exotic citrus perfume is a pure delight to one’s senses. Serve hot with a bowl of jasmine rice and enjoy its healing power.

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Tome Yum Soup with Mushroom & Tofu
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Makes: 3-4

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Ingredients:
4 cups Vegetable Stock
2 Lemongrass Stalks
3+2 Kaffir Lime Leaves, cut into long stripes
1 inch Galangal/Ginger, sliced (Optional)
3 tbsp Lime Juice, freshly squeezed
3 Spring Onions, thinly sliced
1 Green Chilli, thinly sliced
1 cup Tofu, cut into 1cm cubes
1 cup Button Mushroom, thinly sliced
½ cup Carrot, julienned (Optional)
½ cup Red Bell Peppers, cut into i cm pieces (Optional)
1-2 tbsp Sambal Olek
1 tbsp Basil Leaves, finely chopped (Optional)
2 tsp Palm Sugar
1-2 tsp Soya Sauce
Salt to taste

Tome Yum Soup with Mushroom & Tofu

Method:
In a large pan bring vegetable stock to boil over medium heat.
Meanwhile, trim the lemongrass stalk by removing upper hard, dried skin leaving smooth stem. Cut the stalk into 2 inch pieces and lightly bruise the stalk with pestle and mortar.
Add bruised lemongrass , 3 kaffir lime leaves strips, galangal to boiling stock and reduce the heat to low. Let the ingredients simmer for 5-8 minutes till lemongrass stalks turn into khaki green and nice citric aroma fills the room.
While the soup simmers, combine spring onion greens, 2 kaffir lime leaves strips, green chilli slices and lime juice and place them into serving bowls and keep aside.
Scoop lemongrass stalks, galangal from vegetables stock and discard. Add tofu, mushrooms, carrot, bell peppers, basil leaves, sambal olek, soya sauce, sugar, spring onion and salt to taste and increase the heat to high.
When the soup boils again, remove it from heat and pour it on serving bowls and serve at once with Jasmine Rice.

Tome Yum Soup with Mushroom & Tofu

Nancie says, “Rice soup is comfort food in Thailand, simmered up from leftover rice to nourish a family member who is ill. It is also popular as a hearty breakfast or midnight snack. Cold, fever, aches, hangover and heartbreaks all seem to soften their edge just a little when a generous steaming bowl of Kao Tome appears.” And how can we not try this soup which claims to have medicinal properties and can be served as one-dish meal to satisfied our taste buds. We omitted Wheatballs or Wheat Gluten which the recipe calls and made few changes to suite our taste.

Jasmine Rice Soup with Mushrooms, Green Onions & Crispy Garlic

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Jasmine Rice Soup with Mushrooms, Green Onions & Crispy Garlic
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Serves: 3-4

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Ingredients:
1 tbsp Garlic, coarsely chopped
½ tsp freshly ground Pepper
¼ cup Coriander Roots or Steams, coarsely chopped
5 cups Vegetable Stock
1 cup Mushrooms, thinly sliced
½ cup Carrots, shredded
½ cup Sugar Snap Peas, cut into 1 inch pieces (Optional)
1½ cups Cooked Jasmine Rice
¼ cup Spring Onion, chopped
1-2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp Crispy Garlic in Oil (Recipe follows. Original recipe used ¼ cup)
1 stalk Lemongrass (Optional)
½ inch Galangal/Ginger (Optional)
½-1 tsp Palm Sugar
Salt to taste

Jasmine Rice Soup with Mushrooms, Green Onions & Crispy Garlic

Method:
In a blender, combine 1 tbsp garlic, pepper, coriander roots/stems with little vegetable stock and grind to smooth paste.
Heat vegetable stock in a pan and mix in ground paste over a low flame. Add bruised lemongrass stalk, sliced galangal if using and bring the stock to boil in low flame.
Meanwhile, deep fry or pan fry sliced garlic pieces till they are crisp and golden and transfer to paper towel till required.
Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a pan and add mushrooms. Toss them for about 3-5 mins until they are shiny and tender and keep them aside.
Discard lemongrass stalk and galangal from vegetable stock and add sautéed mushrooms, carrots, sugar snap peas, sugar and salt to taste and cook for further 5-8 minutes over low heat.
Add cooked jasmine rice, spring onions and cook for further 5 minutes.
Serve hot or warm soup garnished with crisp fried garlic and coriander leaves and enjoy this one-dish meal.

Jasmine Rice Soup with Mushrooms, Green Onions & Crispy Garlic

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Notes:
To check substitutes for different ingredients used in Thai Cuisine and also read more of Thai Cooking at Monsoon Spice Click Here. Also Read
Thai Vegetarian Red Curry
Thai Veg and Tofu Green Curry
How to cook Jasmine Rice
How to make Thai Red Curry Paste
How to make Thai Green Curry Paste
Also Check Jugalbandi’s Thai Pantry.

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Curries from Thailand

Veg & Tofu Thai Green Curry

"Cookery is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements."

- Marcel Boulestin

One thing I have learnt from my ‘almost’ two years of kitchen adventure is learning how to balance and harmonize flavours. Even the fresh ingredients, such as herbs, spices and vegetables, can differ depending on their freshness, the soil and climate condition where they are grown, the way they are packed and stored etc. Same chilli I had bought few days back was less spicy and the tomatoes were more juicer than the one from my previous shopping trip to same old supermarket. Similarly, tamarind puree from same brand may differ in degree of sourness depending on how thick or thin it is made while the colour of chilli powder may be brighter than the last pack you consumed. For any cook, amateur or experienced, it is important to make adjustments in the quantity used to bring out the right flavour of the ingredients to suit your taste buds rather than blindly following the given recipes religiously. Recipes should serve as guidelines as they cannot speak for our taste preference or the variance in the ingredients we get from different places. Rather following the cooking instructions, I follow my instinct and my palate as it is these two which tells me what I would like in a particular dish, a hint of this a dash of that which creates a perfect harmony between flavour, aroma and the complete satisfaction of creating something which my loved ones enjoy.

Following your instinct and taste should not be limited to the ingredients you are familiar with, to the food which you are grown up with or to the one’s which you have had tasted hundred times. For me it is more important when I create a foreign cuisine where the ingredients used can vary considerably from batch to batch, brand to brand and seasonality. Never hesitate to cut down the number of chillies if you can’t take too much of heat, increase the amount of lime juice if you enjoy sharp and sour taste. Don’t panic if you are short of one or two ingredients. Add or omit herbs and spices to suit your taste and adjust the flavour according to your preference. Play around with the ingredients until you get the right combination of flavours that are most suited to your palate.

One cuisine which I feel I can safely tweak to my preference is Thai food. For a hard core south Indian who has more than average percentage of coconut milk flowing in her blood stream, Thai curry is as dear to me as any Rasams and Sambars. Who wouldn’t fall for a subtle blend of hot, salty, sweet and sour flavors of Thai curry which makes the taste buds tingling? When cooked with home-made curry paste it’s a cherry on icing. Don’t hesitate to make these curries if you are short of any ingredients and pick vegetables of your choice depending on your taste and seasonality. I am posting the substitutes for few ingredients which otherwise is not easily available in few places and I can safely vouch for these as I have tried them myself. I am sending these two curries to Margot of Coffee & Vanilla who is hosting Vegetarian Awareness Month.

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Veg and Tofu Thai Green Curry
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Serves: 3-4

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Ingredients:
1 cup Tofu, cubed
½ cup Red & Green Bell Peppers, thinly sliced
½ cup Baby Corn, sliced
½ cup Sugar Snaps/French Beans, chopped
½ cup Mushrooms (I used Shiitake)
½ cup Green Peas
½ cup carrot, thin stripes
½ cup Yam/Sweet Potato
1 can Coconut Milk
2 fresh/frozen/dried Kaffir Lime Leaves, snipped into thin strips
1½ tsp Dark Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Green Curry Paste

For Green Curry Paste:
1 stalk lemongrass, sliced (lower half)
2 Tbsp ground Coriander Seeds
2 Tbsp Vegetarian Fish Sauce/Soy Sauce
1 tsp Brown Sugar (optional)
3-6 Green Chillies, deseeded (adjust acc to taste)
1 small Onion
1-2 Garlic Cloves
1 tsp Lime Zest
1 thumb-size piece Galangal/Ginger
1 cup/1 bunch Fresh Coriander, including Stems
1 cup fresh Holy/Sweet Basil, including stems

Veg & Tofu Thai Green Curry

Method:
Grind all the ingredients below green curry paste to smooth paste adding little coconut milk at a time.
Heat oil in wok or deep frying pan and add ground paste and sauté it over medium flame for about one minute.
Add coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves and tofu and turn down the heat. Allow the curry to simmer, stirring occasionally for about five minutes.
Add all the vegetables, salt to taste and cover and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes till the vegetables are well cooked.
Stir in soy sauce and lime juice if required and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Garnish with fresh basil and coriander leaves and serve hot with Jasmine or sticky rice and enjoy.

Tips:
1. Vegetarian Fish Sauce is a mixture of soy beans, salt, sugar, water, chilli, and citric acid which acts as a preservative. I make my own Veg Fish Sauce when I am short of strore bought by adding ½ cup Soya Sauce+1 tbsp Sugar+1 tbsp Red Chilli Paste+ ¼ tsp Citric Acid/1 fresh Lime Juice.
2. Galangal is available as fresh/dried/paste form in local oriental stores or Asian stores and sometime in supermarkets. If you don’t have Galangal in your pantry use Ginger and 1 tsp Lime juice instead. I usually add small piece of ginger along with galangal which gives extra flavour and kick to the curry.
3. Sambal Olek is basically a spicy chilli paste. You can make your own Sambal Olek at home by grinding
10-15 Red Chillies (with seeds) + 2-3 tbsp White Vinegar + 1-2 tsp Salt (OR)
10-15 Red Chillies (with seeds) + 2 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar + 1 tbsp Palm Sugar + Salt (OR)
10-15 Red Chillies (with seeds) + 2 tbsp Lime Juice + 2 tbsp Sesame Oil + Salt
Store this paste in a sterilised glass jar and store it in fridge. It usually lasts for few weeks.
4. Kaffir Lime Leaves are usually available in Chinese/Vietnamese/Thai stores as fresh or in frozen section. Dry Kaffir Leaves are available in any big supermarket in their dry herbs or oriental food aisle. When they are not available substitute them with lime zest and juice.
5. Lemon Grass is available as fresh/frozen/dry/paste. You can substitute them with lime zest and juice.

Veg Thai Red Curry

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Veg Thai Red Curry
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Serves: 3-4

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Ingredients:
½ cup Carrot, thinly sliced
½ cup Mushrooms (I used Shiitake Mushrooms), sliced
½ cup Potato, diced into a 1 cm cubes
½ cup Baby Corns, sliced
½ cup Sugar Snaps/French Beans, cut into 1 cm pieces
½ cup Green Peas
½ cup Red Bell Pepper, cut into small pieces
½ cup Spring Onion Greens, thinly chopped
1 can Coconut Milk
2 tbsp Sambal Olek/1 tbsp Red Chilli Paste
2 fresh/frozen/dry Kaffir Lime Leaves, snipped into thin strips (Optional)
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Red Curry Paste

For Red Curry Paste:
1½ tbsp Coriander Seeds
3 Green Cardamom Pods, (only the seeds)
4-5 Dry Red Chilies, adjust acc to taste
¼ tsp Black Pepper
2 Garlic Flakes
1 small Onion
1 inch Galangal/Ginger
2 sticks Lemon Grass (lower half)/ ½ Lime zest + 2 tbsp Lime Juice
2 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 tbsp Tamarind Juice
½ cup Coriander Stems (not leaves)
2 tbsp Basil/1 tsp Dry Basil Powder

Veg Thai Red Curry

Method:
Dry roast coriander seeds, cardamom seeds, dry red chilies and black pepper over a medium heat for around 1 minute.
Grind the above roasted spices with garlic flakes, galangal, lemon grass, tomato paste, tamarind juice, coriander stems, onion and basil to a smooth paste.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and add ground red curry paste and sauté it over a medium flame for around a minute.
Add all the vegetables except for spring onion greens and pour water so that the vegetables are just covered and cook over a medium flame for around 5 minutes till the vegetables are half cooked.
Then add coconut milk, salt to taste, kaffir lime leaves, sambal olek and cook for further 10-15 minutes till the vegetables are cooked.
Switch off the flame and chopped coriander leaves, greens of spring onion and serve hot with aromatic Jasmine Rice.

Jasmine Rice is one of the two main types of rice grown in Thailand; the other is sticky rice (which is not the same as sushi rice). Jasmine rice is an aromatic long-grain rice with almost translucent grains and often it is called as milagrosa or mali rice. For a perfectly cooked scented Jasmine Rice the trick is to use less water. By this way the rice is actually being steamed instead of boiled during the second half of the cooking process.

Aromatic Jasmine Rice

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How to Cook Jasmine Rice:
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Serves: 2

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Microwave Method:
Rinse the rice by gently moving your fingers through it until the water runs clear and drain.
Put 1 cup Jasmine rice into microwave container with a lid.
Add 1½ cups of boiling water to the rice and cover the dish with lid and cook on full power for around 13-15 minutes.
Remove from microwave and let stand for 5 minutes and fluff with chopsticks or a fork before serving.

Stove Top Method:
Rinse the rice by gently moving your fingers through it until the water runs clear and drain.
Put 11/2 cup of water to boil and add 1 cup of Jasmine rice.
Cover tightly, lower heat and simmer for 18-20 minutes
Remove from the heat and let stand for a few minutes and fluff with chopsticks or a fork before serving.

Tips:
The amount of water to add can vary depending on the rice. New crop rice – rice grown in the same year – is not as dry and needs less water.
Cooking jasmine rice in a rice cooker can be tricky. Try reducing the amount of water called for in the rice cooker's directions - even to a 1:1 ratio if necessary.
1½ cups jasmine rice gives about 3 1/2 cups cooked rice.
Cold jasmine rice is very good for making fried rice.
(Source: about.com)

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