Thai Coconut Vegetarian Soup
My brothers girlfriend (Leslie) sent me a wonderful Thai Coconut Chicken Rice Soup recipe that I decided to make this week with some modifications. I wanted to take her recipe and make it into a vegetarian soup similar to Happy Planets Thai Coconut Soup that I tried a few weeks back.
I added a fair bit of veggies to replace the chicken and rice. Note: this is a large batch of soup to have as left overs or even freeze. My decision to omit rice is because I find rice gets too mushy the next day or when freezing. I decided to use bamboo shoots as a substitute for rice – they were some mighty fine mock noodles I must say! Happy Planets Thai Soup gave me the ideal of adding bamboo shoots.
The Verdict of Thai Coconut Vegetarian Soup? I think this soup should not be made without the red chile thai and lime juice. They both work together very well. The red thai gives it a superb heat (may be a tad too hot for some folks though) and the lime juice gives it a great acidic freshness. I love the bamboo shoots as a substitute for rice or noodles, they were almost noodle-like and thicker pieces than what Happy Planets soup had. This is also one soup that get’s better the next day – I had it 3 days in row for lunch and froze the rest for a later date.
Thai Coconut Vegetarian Soup Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 carrot, julienned
- 10 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 red thai chile, finely chopped
- 1 cup bamboo shoots, julienned
- 1 can of baby corn, cut in thirds (if whole in can)
- 1 tablespoon red curry paste
- 1 lemongrass stalk, halved or quartered and bruised
- 7 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 can light unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 1/2 cup fresh baby spinach
- ground pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon lime rind
- 1/8 cup lime juice
- 4 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
Thai Coconut Vegetarian Soup Instructions:
- Saute onions, garlic, and ginger for 3 minutes.
- Add mushrooms, carrot, celery, red pepper, red thai chile, sauté for 3 more minutes.
- Add red curry paste, baby corn, bamboo shoots, lemongrass, vegetable broth, coconut milk. Bring to boil and turn down to simmer until vegetables are tender.
- Add baby spinach and cook until wilted.
- Add lime rind, lime juice, ground pepper.
- Ladle in bowls and garnish with cilantro and more pepper (if desired).
What I changed from the original recipe:
- omitted chicken, rice, white sugar, snap peas
- added 1/8 cup lemon juice
- added lemon grass, bamboo shoots, red thai chile, baby corn, red curry paste, garlic
- used low sodium vegetable broth instead of chicken broth
- increased cilantro to 4 tablespoons
Soup Mistress Rating for Thai Coconut Vegetarian Soup:
Healthy (+ slimming + low sodium): (4.5/5)
Presentation: (4.5/5)
Taste: (4.5/5)