Jessica's Thai Coconut Soup

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 stalk lemongrass, minced
• 2 -5 teaspoons red curry paste, add to desired spiciness
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 (13 1/2 ounce) cans coconut milk
• 1/2 lb fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced
• 1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• salt
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Recipe

• 1 heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.
• 2 cook and stir the ginger, lemongrass, and curry paste in the heated oil for 1 minute.
• 3 slowly pour the chicken broth over the mixture, stirring continually.
• 4 stir in the fish sauce and brown sugar; simmer for 15 minutes.
• 5 pour in the coconut milk and mushrooms; cook and stir until the mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes.
• 6 add the shrimp; cook until no longer translucent about 5 minutes.
• 7 stir in the lime juice; season with salt; garnish with cilantro.
• 8 note: my favorite way to enjoy this soup is poured over steamed brown basmati rice. also, if you cannot find lemongrass you can use lemongrass paste, although the flavor will not be exactly the same. some people prefer to leave the lemongrass stalk in-tact and then remove from soup prior to serving. this will work fine, i just prefer the added texture of the minced lemongrass. i would also like to add that some brands of red curry paste are extremely spicy, while others are very mild. so the spiciness will depend on how much you add and also on what brand you use.