Thai Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 4 c chicken stock
- 2 kaffir lime leaves (or grated zest of 1 lime)
- thinly sliced lemongrass (one 3" piece)
- fresh ginger (one 3" piece, peeled and grated)
- 3 green onions (trimmed and julienned)
- 1 t curry powder
- 1/2 t ground cumin
- 1 fresh chili pepper (small red Thai pepper preferably; seeded and ribs removed; sliced crosswise)
- 2 cooked chicken breasts (boneless skinless, shredded)
- 1 c mushrooms (shiitake preferably, stems removed & sliced)
- 1 T fish sauce
- 1/2 c thinly sliced carrots
- 1/2 c fresh cilantro (leaves, plus more for garnish)
- 1/2 c bean sprouts
- salt (coarse)
- lime juice (of 1/2 lime, plus lime wedges for garnish)
- fresh mint leaves (for garnish)
Method
In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add the lime leaves, lemon grass, ginger, green onions, curry powder, cumin, chile, chicken, mushrooms and fish sauce. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in carrots, the 1/2 cup cilantro and bean sprouts. Simmer for 5 minutes more.
Remove lime leaves and discard. Season with salt and lime juice. Ladle soup into shallow soup bowls. Garnish with cilantro, lime wedges and mint. Serve immediately.
Notes
Note from source: Kaffir lime leaves have an exotic floral-citrus aroma. Find them at Asian markets. The leaves can be frozen for up to two months, which means you can stock up when you find them.
SJ Note 30 Jan 2011: Very tasty! First made on 10 Dec 2010, was tasty then; froze the leftovers and they were excellent tonight, suffered no damage at all and needed no special treatment. Dinner in ten minutes tonight, awesome :-) I used the ordinary lime zest, as I don't have kaffir lime leaves, a bird's eye chili if memory serves, and white button mushrooms - very tasty. Also reduced the cilantro from 1 cup to 1/2 cup according to my own taste.