Serves: 4
What you need
- 4 cups Seafood of your choice. You can use prawns, fish, squid, etc. Or a mixture of them.
- 300 g Mushroom, cut into medium size pieces.
- 750 ml Water (or chicken stock)
- 5 Large dried chillies
- 10 Small dried chillies
- 1/4 cups Shallots, cut into medium chunks
- 2 Tbsp Garlic, cut into medium chunks
- 4 Tbsp oil
- 2 Lemongrass, cut into 2 inch chunks
- 8 slices Galangal
- 10 Kaffir lime leaves
- 5 Tbsp Tamarind concentrate
- 5 Tbsp Fish sauce
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped
How to put this together
- On low-medium heat, heat 1 Tbsp oil in pan. Add large dried chillies, fry/oil-roast until fragrant. Transfer to a bowl, including the oil.
- In the same pan, heat another 1 Tbsp oil. Add small dried chillies, fry/oil-roast until fragrant. Transfer to the same bowl.
- Repeat the same with shallots
- Repeat the same with garlic
- Grind together the roasted mixture (oil included) until you get a chilli paste (I use magic bullet). Add more oil to help it along, if required.
- In a pot, add water + lemongrass + galangal. Bring to boil.
- Add mushroom. Bring to boil.
- Add chilli paste. Dissolve well.
- Add kaffir lime leaves + tamarind concentrate + fish sauce + sugar.
- Taste & season. The flavour should be quite concentrated at this point – it will dilute when we add seafood.
- Bring the soup to a heavy boil – add seafood pieces. IMPORTANT: make sure the soup is fully boiling before you add seafood. You want them to cook quickly. Also, do NOT stir immediately after you’ve added seafood – otherwise you’ll end up with a very fishy (not in a good seafood fishy way) soup. Leave them to cook.
- When the soup is boiling again, give it a gentle stir.
- Taste & season.
- Serve immediately, sprinkled with chopped coriander leaves, with steamed jasmine rice.
