I’m calling this soup “Asian Hot & Sour” because the flavors were inspired by Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese soups I love. I’d say it most resembles Tom Yum… Essentially I decided to totally wing it and try to make a tasty soup and it actually turned out pretty good!! I’m sure there are many ways to do this better but for a first attempt I’m pretty proud. I’m fortunate to have access to some exotic ingredients at my local grocery store although I couldn’t find kaffir lime leaves or galangal which would have really made this soup sing I’m sure! Luckily ginger can be substituted for galangal but kaffir is a unique flavor that can’t be replaced. Oh well!

Here’s what you’ll need for all components:

• 1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined (reserve shells)
• Five stalks of lemongrass, outer layers removed (four roughly chopped and the last thinly sliced)
• 2 x 1-inch knobs of ginger, peeled (one kept whole, one finely chopped)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh turmeric
• I bunch of cilantro (leaves chopped, stems reserved)
• 2 yellow onions (one quartered, peel kept intact, and the other peeled and sliced thick)
• 6 cloves garlic (4 kept whole, two finely chopped)
• 5 stalks green onion (2 roughly chopped, 3 sliced)
• 1 pound mixed wild mushrooms (whatever looks good – oyster is my fave)
• 12 thai chilis, stems removed (can substitute with 2-3 jalapeños if you can’t find the little thai ones)
• Juice of 2 limes
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• Olive oil

For the broth:

• Combine the shrimp shells, the four stalks of roughly chopped lemongrass, one knob of ginger, one tablespoon turmeric, stems from cilantro bunch, one yellow onion (quartered), 4 garlic cloves (left whole), 2 stalks of green onion (roughly chopped), mushroom stems, and chilis in a large stock pot. Fill pot with water to the top.
• Simmer stock until water is reduced in half. BE CAREFUL – this happens faster than with other stocks! I accidentally over reduced the mixture (twice!). Makesure that your heat setting is on low as you want the mixture to cook as long as possible without losing too much water so that maximum flavor is created.
• Strain mixture and reserve stock (can be made a day or two in advance).

For the soup:

• Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy duty pot or dutch oven.
• Sauté the onions for a couple minutes until they start to get translucent.
• Add the mushrooms and sauté, stirring continuously until they release their moisture.
• Add the remaining lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, and garlic and cook for a couple minutes until the flavors start to develop.
• Add the cleaned shrimp and cooked until they just START to turn pink (they’re going to keep cooking once you add the broth in!).
• Add the reserved broth and simmer for another couple minutes to let the flavors combine.
• Turn the heat off and add the lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, green onion, and 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro leaves. Add more/less of any of these ingredients to suit your palette.

TIPS:

• This is a completely off-the-cuffrecipe that I messed around with one night. I definitely encourage playing around with it and adding more or less of any ingredient. I looked up a lot of recipes to get some inspiration and then played around with whatever ingredients looked good at the store.
• I like things spicy and this definitely is HOT! Tone down the number of chilis if you like it milder but remember that the heat dissipates after the stock settles and the other flavors balance the heat out.
• Try out various mushrooms! I found enoki at the store which give it a noodle-like texture. I also love maitake and shitake. The Thai restaurant I fell in love with Tom Yum at always used straw mushrooms but I haven’t found them as easily.
• Want a heartier meal? Add udon noodles!! The first night I made this as a first course to a big Sunday dinner and then I warmed up the leftovers the next day and served with udon noodles for a complete meal. YUM!