Tom Yum Soup

This one is one of my child hood favorites and it comes as a surprise that even before chinese, thai cuisine was a norm, Tom-Yum Soup has been available in plenty. This simple, thai soup is a comfort food for me and reminds me of “Nanking” – the first asian restaurant in my home town of Nagpur in central India.

The key to this simple soup is a good stock. We made a shrimp and chicken stock using peels from the shrimp, bones and skin from a rotisserie chicken breast and flavored with cilantro stems, lemon grass and ginger.

The next key ingredient is the thai red-curry paste. I used a store bought paste this time but making it at home is high on my to-do list. I believe in home-made stocks and feel like it is about time to take my spice blends equally seriously.

5 cups of shrimp stock
1.5 cups baby-bella mushrooms (quartered)
2 stalks of lemon grass (cut into finger long pieces)
4 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
0.5 inch piece of galangal (can substitute with ginger)
4 red chillis (I used “kashmiri” chillis – they have a nice deep red color but are not very hot, I also shook off most of the seeds to reduce the heat)
1.5 table spoon fish sauce
Juice of 1.5 limes
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 to 1.5 cups coconut milk (as per desired creaminess)
Cilantro and scallions for garnish.

Some of the recipes I researched used a tom-yum soup paste and a thai red chilli paste, but I went with the red curry paste since it is very easily available and multi-purpose.

Most recipes called for mixing in the ingredients and bringing the soup to a slow simmer and boil and then stirring in the coconut milk at last. I tried a different approach. I tempered the galangal/ ginger, kaffir lime leaves, red chillis and mushrooms in a teaspoon of hot vegetable oil. Next I added the red curry paste, lime juice and sugar and stirred for about a minute before adding the stock etc. As the soup came to a slow boil, I finished by adding the coconut juice and garnished with cilantro leaves and chopped scallions.

If you want to make the soup a little heartier, stir in peeled, de-veined shrimps and/or small asian flavored meatballs along with the coconut milk.

Turkey Chilli

Its a 105F outside and I decided to make a bowl of chilli.  Have a bad bout of cold and desperately need some comfort food.  If it gets too hot, may be I will go get an ice cream to balace it all!

1/2 pound ground white turkey
3 large cloves of garlic
2 serrano peppers
1 medium onion
4 medium tomatoes
kernels from 1 fresh corn
1 8oz can of black beans
1/2 bottle dark beer
2 cups vegetable/ chicken stock
1 cup 2% milk
1/2 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
shredded cheese
olive oil
Salt

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a deep pan and add ground turkey to it.  Break up the meat stirring constantly untill it becomes opaque white and turns slightly brown at the edges.  Add finely chopped garlic and serrano peppers.  I de-seeded one of twon peppers to control the heat.  Saute for 2 minutes and add finely chopped onion.  Saute on medium low heat for 15 minutes till the onions become translucent and then become pinkish-brown. 
Meanwhile, quarter the tomatoes, sprinkle salt, peppers and olive oil and slow roast them in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.  It will concentrate the tomato flavor without drying them out completely.  I used fresh tomato from the farmers market but canned crushed tomatoes will also work. Once the onions start to turn brown, add the chopped roasted tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes till the tomatoes cook completely.
Add corn, black beans and beer and let it come to a boil for another 10 minutes.  Now, add stock and milk and let it come to a final bubble.
For a thicker chilli, add a small can of tomato sauce with the chopped tomatoes.  I prefer a subtle tomato flavor but this recipe makes a rather soupy chilli.

Enjoy!

Avani’s Mexican Tortilla Soup with bitter chocolate and chipotle peppers

I saw Rachel Ray make this recipe on her show. But since I never write things down, I didn’t note down this one. Today I am making my own version with some bitter chocolate. We made some chicken stock last night and am using that for this soup.


Chicken stock: Got a rotisserie chicken breast last night to make some sandwiches. We shredded up the meat and used the bone and skin to make the stock. In a cold pot (I think this is important), put the chicken bones, skin, carrots, bay leaf, peppercorns and a couple cloves of garlic. Pour about 6 cups of water and let it simmer on slow heat. I happened to have carrots on hand but celery, onion etc will be wonderful. Let the stock simmer for a couple of hours, let it cool, strain and its ready to use.

The soup

2 small shallots or a quarter of a red onion

1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded

2 small or 1 large chipotle peppers

2 large cloves of garlic

Olive oil

1 cup black beans

1 cup corn

1 cup shredded chicken

½ cup mushrooms

½ cup green peppers

Chicken stock

Bitter chocolate

Brown sugar

Cumin powder

Tomato paste

Fresh avocado


In a saucepan, take about 2 cups of stock, and add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped bitter chocolate, same amount of brown sugar and pieces of deseeded chipotle pepper. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes while we make the soup base. We will later strain this into the soup.

In a soup pan, heat some olive oil and add finely chopped garlic, jalapeno pepper and onion. Let the onions sauté, add 1 teaspoon of cumin powder as the onions turn brown. Stir in the mushrooms and peppers, after they have softened a bit, add the beans and corn. Stir for a couple of minutes followed by the shredded chicken. Follow the chicken with 1 heaping tablespoon and no more of tomato paste. We don’t want the tomato to overcome the “mole” taste from the chipotle and bitter chocolate. By this time, things will be sticking to the bottom of the pan….thats a good thing . Now, strain the simmering stock with chocolate and peppers in. Add 3 more cups of chicken stock. Season with salt and let it boil one last time so all the flavors come together.

Meanwhile cut the tortillas in thin strips, drizzle some olive oil and crisp up in the oven for a few minutes at 350C. In a serving bowl, put the crisp tortilla chips, and small cubes of avocado (optional) and top off with the soup.