Bowl of Seafood Lemongrass Soup
(click to enlarge)

Seafood Lemongrass Soup


Lao / Thai   -   Tome Yum Talay
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4 Soup
**
1-1/4 hrs
Prep		 A simple to make seafood soup offering a good range of Southeast Asian flavors. It can be reheated with care - too long at a simmer will toughen some of the seafood. See also Comments.

12
5
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2
3
4
3
1-1/2
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1/2
1-1/2
1
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3
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2
2
oz
oz
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c
c
---
t
T
t
---
T
---

T
Mixed Seafood (1)
Mushrooms (2)
-- Broth
Lemongrass stalk (3)  
Galangal slice (4)
Kaffir Lime Leaf (5)
Stock (6)
Water
-- Seasoning
Salt
Fish Sauce (7)
Chili-Garlic (8)
-----------------
Lime Juice
-- Garnish
Scallions
Cilantro
Prep   -  (35 min)
  1. Thaw SEAFOOD MIX or prepare your own mix as appropriate.
  2. Slice MUSHROOMS thin (if Shiitakes see Note-2).
  3. Peel off toughest outer leaves of LEMON GRASS. Cut off the hard root end and strike the bottom 10 inches lightly with the smooth side of your kitchen mallet to crack it, but not hard enough so it falls apart. Cut the bottom 10 inches into 4 lengths.
  4. Cut slices of GALANGAL about 1/8 inch thick. Bruise LIME LEAVES.
  5. Mix all Broth items in a suitable saucepan.
  6. Mix all Seasoning items.
  7. Squeeze Lime Juice
  8. For Garnish, cut SCALLIONS crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces (white and green). Chop CILANTRO small. Mix.
Run   -   (40 min)
  1. Place the saucepan with the Broth mix on high flame and bring it to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.
  2. Remove Solids from the broth and discard. There should be at least 3 cups of broth left.
  3. Bring back to a boil and stir in Mushrooms and Seasoning mix.
  4. Return and stir in Seafood mix. Bring back to a boil quickly and simmer for 1 minute.
  5. Stir in Lime Juice and immediately take off the heat.
  6. Serve hot garnished with Scallion mix.
NOTES:

  1. Seafood Mix:

      Weight is after thawing and draining. A good packaged frozen seafood mix will work fine - or make up your own mix how you like.

  2. Mushrooms:

      The pattern recipe calls for fresh Shiitakes, which I used for the photo example, but some of the new firm Oyster Mushrooms will work fine. If you use fresh Shiitakes, give them a 20 minute soak in hot water as if they were dried. This will make their texture creamy and improve flavor. For details see our Fungus page.

  3. Lemongrass:

      An essential for Southeast Asian cuisines, these tough grass stems are now widely available in North America in markets that serve an East or Southeast Asian community. I've even seen them in some Korean markets. For details see our Lemongrass page.

  4. Galangal

      This board hard relative of ginger imparts a unique flavor to Southeast Asian soups and stews. Fresh is best but frozen is fine. Dried and powdered is not acceptable. If you don't have it, use fresh Ginger Root - not at all the same, but acceptable. For details see our Galangal page.

  5. Kaffir Lime Leaves:

      These come 2 to a stem, so this recipe will need 2 stems. For details See our Kaffir Lime page. If you don't have them, grate the zest of a lime before you squeeze it for lime juice.

  6. Stock:

    >   In Southeast Asia the stock is not necessarily keyed to the main ingredient, so either a Fish Stock or Chicken Stock can be used, or even Pork Stock.

  7. Fish Sauce:

      This clear liquid is as essential to Southeast Asian cuisine as it was to Imperial Rome. If you are unfamiliar with it, see our Fish Sauce - Introduction page.

  8. Chili Garlic Sauce:

      The almost universally available Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce (Green cap, Rooster logo) will do fine here.

  9. Comments

      The pattern recipe was given as Lao, by a writer who is definitely Lao, but beyond the spelling of "Thome" for "Tom", this soup is actually Thai. Laos has no natural access to seafood, only to river fish. On the other hand, Thailand and Laos share a lot of their cuisine with each other, and a large number of Laotians live in Thailand.
  10. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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