Trying Thai soup

Trying Thai Soup

17th December 2012

13th December, my company introduced a new cuisine in the cafeteria - Thai ! I tried their soup, raw papaya salad, pad thai, fried rice balls, a mango-coconut-sabudana pudding. My family is crazy about soups. I wanted to make them this soup - vegetarian of course. I checked out recipes for Tom Yam soup on the web. Found several versions with mushroom, etc. Here is my "cooked" up version of the Tom Yum Soup that was an instant hit with my family. I do not like mushrooms , so I have avoided that. I also avoided coconut milk .

Here goes the recipe - try it and leave your comments...

Ingredients - (makes 4 servings approx)

All are approximate. Pls adjust according to your taste.
Lemon grass stalks - 4
Kaffir lime leaves - 4
Ginger - small piece
Spring onions - a handful
Garlic cloves - 4 (sliced thin)
Red chillies (Use green if red not available) - 2 medium size
Carrots - 2 medium - sliced in circles
Tofu -  1/2 pack, cubed
Bok Choy/Chinese Cabbage - 3 - greens sliced ans washed
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Brown Sugar - to taste
Tamarind juice - 1 tbsp concentrate
Lemon juice -  from 1 lemon
Red chilli sauce - 1 tsp or to taste
Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp
Chopped basil and coriander leaves for garnish

Method - 

Cut stalks of lemongrass, ginger, Kaffir Lime leaves into water and let this simmer to soak up all the flavors. I have lemon grass growing in my garden so I pulled out a few stalks of this. I have a lime tree in my garden. I do not think these are kaffir lime but I still used these. Let the stock simmer and flavors start to fill the room. Remove from stove, cover with lid and store.

Meantime, in a pan, add oil, saute finely chopped spring onion whites, and garlic. Add finely sliced red chilli pepper, sliced carrots, cubed tofu and chopped Bok Choy//Chinese Cabbage. Broccoli florets can also be used in place of bok choy. Add a little more oil if needed and saute for a while. Strain the stock and add the liquid to the pan. Add salt, brown sugar, tamarind juice, lemon juice, red chilli sauce. Simmer for some time.

Serve sprinkled with chopped spring onion greens, coriander and basil leaves.