Corn and Crab Soup with Coriander Recipe

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Total cooking time: 10 minutes
Recipe serves 4

Ingredients

1 ½ tablespoons oil

6 cloves garlic, chopped

5 French shallots, chopped

2 stems lemon grass (white part only), finely chopped

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 litre chicken stock

1 cup coconut milk

2 ½ cups frozen corn kernels

2 x 170g cans crab meat, drained

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon soft borwn sugar

freshly ground black pepper

fresh coriander leaves

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the garlic, shallots, leon grass and ginger to the pan and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add stock and coconut milk to pan and bring to the boil. Add the corn to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add the crab meat, fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar to the pan and stir. Add the pepper; serve immediately, topped with coriander leaves. Garnish with sliced chillies if you like.

Variation

Two eggs, beaten with two tablespoons of water, may be whisked into the soup before serving.

Seafood Soup with Chilli and Basil Recipe

Preparation time: 30-40 minutes
Total cooking time: 30 minutes
Recipe serves 4

Ingredients

8 raw king prawns
8 small black mussels in shells
1 white fish fillet (about 200g)
 small squid hoods
1 tablespoon oil

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

3 stems lemon grass (white part only), bruised

2 cm piece fresh ginger, tinly sliced

8 kaffir lime leaves, bruised

2 green chillies, chopped

3 coriander roots, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, sliced

3 French shallots, sliced

2 ripe tomatoes, chopped

3 cups fish stock or water

2 teaspoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon tamarind puree

1 tablespoon lime juice

¼ cup each of fresh Thai basil leaves and chopped fresh coriander, optional

2 small red chillies, chopped

Method

1. Peel prawns, leaving tails intact; devein. Remove beards from mussels and scrub shells to remove all the grit.

2. Cut the fish into 4 cm pieces. Using a sharp knife, slit the squid up one side, score the flesh in a diamond patter and cut the squid into pieces.

3. Heat oil in a large pan or wok, add the turmeric, lemon grass, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, green chillies, coriander, garlic and shallots; stir over high heat for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add tomatoes, stir until soft. Add the stock to pan; bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

4. Add sugar, fish sauce, tamarind and all the seafood to pan. Bring mixture to the boil, cover, cook 3-5 minutes or until tender. Discard lemon grass and any mussels tat have not opened. Gently stir through the lime juice and herbs. Serve sprinkled with red chillies.

Hint

Bruise kaffir lime leaves by crushing with the flat side of a knife.

Pumpkin, Prawn and Coconut Soup Recipe

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Total cooking time: 20 minutes
Recipe serves 4-6

Ingredients

500g pumpkin
4 tablespoons lime juice
8 medium raw king prawns
2 onions, chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
1 stem lemon grass (white part only) chopped
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 teaspoon sugar

1 ½ cups coconut milk

1 teaspoon tamarind puree

1 cup water

½ cup coconut cream

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 tablespoons fresh Thai basil leaves, optional, plus some extra leaves or sprigs to garnish

Method

1. Peel pumpkin and scoop out seeds. Cut the pumpkin into cubes and combine with half of the lime juice in a medium bowl. Remove heads from prawns; peel and devein prawns.

2. Process the onions, chilli, chopped lemon grass, shrimp paste, sugar and about ¼ cup of coconut milk in a food processor until a paste forms.

3. Combine the paste with the remaining coconut milk, tamarind puree and water in a large pan and stir until smooth. Add the pumpkin with the lime juice to the pan; bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes or until the pumpkin is just tender.

4. Add the raw prawns and the coconut cream; simmer for 3 minutes or until the prawns are just pink and tender. Stir in the fish sauce, the remaining lime juice and the Thai basil leaves, if using. When ready to serve, pour the soup into warmed bowls and garnish with the extra Thai basil leaves or sprigs. 

Note

Thai basil leaves give a distinctive flavour. They are available from Asian food stores.

Thai Chicken and Galangal Soup (Tom Kha Gai) Recipe

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Total cooking time: 20 minutes
Recipe serves 4

Ingredients

5cm piece fresh galangal
2 cups coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
3 chicken breast fillets, cut into thin strips
1-2 teaspoons finely chopped red chillies
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon soft brown sugar

¼ cup fresh coriander leaves

Method

1. Peel the galangal and cut it into thin slices. Combine the galangal, coconut milk and stock in a medium pan. Bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the chicken and chillies to the pan and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the fish sauce and brown sugar; toss.

3. Add the coriander leaves and serve immediately, garnished with extra sprigs of coriander, if you like.

Hint

If fresh galangal is not available, you can use five large slices of dried galangal instead. Prepare it by soaking the slices in half to one cup of boiling water for ten minutes before slicing it into small shreds. Add the liquid to chicken stock to make one cup and use as above.

Tom Yum Goong / Hot and Sour Prawn Soup Recipe

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Total cooking time: 45 minutes
Recipe serves 4-6

Ingredients

500g medium raw prawns
1 tablespoons oil
2 litres water
2 tablespoons red curry paste
2 tablespoons tamarind puree
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon chopped red chillies, optional
4-6 kaffir lime leaves
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons soft brown sugar

¼ cup fresh coriander leaves

Method

1. Remove the prawn heads. Peel the prawns, leaving the tail intact. Using a sharp knife, slit each prawn down the back and devein. Set the prawns aside. Heat the oil in a large pan.

2. Add the prawn shells and heads to the pan an cook for 10 minutes over medium high heat, tossing frequently, until shells and heads are deep orange.

3. Add 1 cup of water and the curry paste to pan. Boil for 5 minutes, until reduced slightly. Add remaining water and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain, reserving the stock. Discard heads and shells. Return stock to pan.

4. Add the tamarind, turmeric, chillies and lime leaves to pan; bring to boil and cook for 2 minutes. Add the prawns to the pan and cook for 5 minutes or until prawns turn pink. Add the fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar to the pan; toss. Serve immediately, sprinkled with coriander leaves.

Hint

If tamarind puree is not available, soak one quarter of solid block of tamarind in warm water for ten minutes and then work the pulpy mixture with your fingertips. Remove stones before using.

Seafood Tomyam Soup Recipe

Tomyam is a Thai style cuisine cooking recipe style. Tomyam is a sour and spicy soup based originated from Thailand. Ingredients such as prawns, mixed seafood, chicken or fish are often used in preparation of a Tomyam soup. 

Ingredients

300g prawns (Medium size, cleaned & deshelled)
200g clams (cleaned)
300g squid (cleaned)
2 Stalks Lemon Grass (Lightly crushed)
3 Kaffir Leaves
½" Galangal (Thinly bruised)
3 Lime Juice
1.5 Liter water with seafood stock
Few pcs coriander leaves
½ tsp Salt

Method

1. Boil the water with galangal, lemon grass, kaffir leaves for 10 minutes.
2. Add in the clams, squid and prawns. Simmer for 3-5 minutes.
3. Add in onions, cili padi, salt and lime juice. Simmer for another 1-2 minutes.
4. Garnish with coriander leaves.