This is adapted from a Thai Coconut Soup recipe I used to make, but fresh corn is used as a thickener instead of cornstarch. This also means that less of the coconut milk is needed to give it a creamy consistency. And, best of all, it’s tasty and incredibly healthy.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 1 hour |
| Servings |
|
Ingredients
- 1 lb medium shrimp peeled and deveined, reserving shells and juices
- 4 cups seafood stock refer to https://absolute0cooking.com/recipe/how-to-make-a-stock/
- 4 ears corn
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons ginger freshly grated
- 4 medium garlic cloves grated
- 2 tablespoons lemongrass paste or 1 Tbsp grass stalk
- 1 serrano pepper diced, retaining seeds
- 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 13 1/2 ounce light coconut milk
- 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms sliced (stems removed)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 ounce fresh cilantro
- 1 ounce rice vinegar
Ingredients
|
|
Instructions
- Boil corn for 8 minutes in water with some sugar and salt added. Remove from water, and roast corn on the grill until grill marks form. Remove from grill, and cut kernels off the cob, saving cobs.
- Bring stock to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Add corn cobs and shells and juices reserved from the shrimp. Cover and allow to simmer for at least half an hour. Strain liquids out and set aside.
- Add 3/4 of corn kernels to a blender with 1 cup of stock. Blend until pureed, then set aside. NOTE: a food processor can't puree the kernels, and you'll end up with "corn pebbles" in your soup...still tasty, but not the ideal texture.
- Separate seeds, if any, from tamarind paste and discard.
- Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat. Stir in the ginger, garlic, lemon grass, pepper, and tamarind paste for 1 minute.
- Slowly pour all but 1 cup of the stock over the mixture, stirring continually.
- Stir in the fish sauce; simmer for 15 minutes.
- Stir in the coconut milk, mushrooms, corn kernels and cilantro; cook and stir until the mushrooms are soft.
- Add the shrimp; cook until no longer translucent (about 5 minutes).
- Stir in the lime juice and rice vinegar. Heat for 1 minute, then serve.
Recipe Notes
Refer to How to Make a Stock to make your own stock for this recipe. Most store-bought stocks are heavier, but still not bad: this recipe becomes a 3-point-per-bowl recipe with a standard store-bought stock.
You can make this soup less spicy by removing the seeds from the pepper, or by using a milder pepper.
3 comments
This recipe has a lot of my favorite ingredients. What can I do to make it a bit more spicy?
Hi. I really like Serrano peppers for heat, and 1 is all I need. But, if you want to add more heat, I’d add a second pepper (or a third). I think this is a more controlled way to gradually raise the heat (as opposed to, say, using a habanero.
You can check the spiciness while it’s still in the pot, late in the cook. If it’s not spicy enough, chop up a pepper and sautée it in a pan with a little oil, then stir it in.
I hope you like it.
Hi, Derrick…I thought I responded, but I think that just went straight to your email. So…
One easy way to up the heat is to add hot sauce. But, I’d suggest adding additional serrano peppers, one at a time, over using – say – a habanero. The serrano is ~20,000 on the Scoville scale; a habanero is 300,000, which makes it hard to regulate the heat. You can introduce fresh peppers later in the recipe – if you’ve tasted it and decided it’s not hot enough – by dicing them and sautéing them, then stirring them in.