Hot and Sour Thai Mushroom Soup with Nam Prik Pow

Spicy Thai is probably my favorite cuisine after Indian cooking. Oddly enough, I have rarely cooked authentic Thai food, opting instead for take out from Thai Taste, my favorite Thai restaurant in London. I suppose that is one of the reasons I chose Thai soups and salads for the theme for this month's No Croutons Required — this challenge inspired me to come up with a Thai meal in addition to getting some lovely ideas from fellow bloggers.

I always prefer to make my own spice blends and sauces, and so I made a fresh nam prik pow sauce in preparation for this fragrant and delicious hot and sour mushroom soup. Also spelled as nam prik pao, this traditional Thai chili paste is almost always prepared with shrimp paste — a warning to vegetarians going out to eat, just because you order a vegetable or bean curd dish with nam prik pow does not mean that you will be eating vegetarian! So this is a vegetarian version using tamari sauce to infuse that wonderful salty or briny taste into the sauce. You will end up with more of the sauce than you need for this recipe, but this sauce is delicious served over egg noodles or with some fresh or lightly cooked vegetables as well.

Served alongside a homemade Thai massaman curry, this soup was a great hit with wonderful layers of spicy, sour and lemony flavors contrasting beautifully with tender chunks of tasty oyster mushrooms. It was light at the same time to provide a balance with the heavier massaman curry.

Just a quick note: most of these ingredients are available in large grocery stores these days, but a quick trip to an Asian grocer will locate green eggplants and kaffir lime leaves for a more authentic taste — I have however included substitutes for these ingredients.

Hot and Sour Thai Mushroom Soup with Nam Prik Pow

Recipe by Lisa Turner Adapted from Thai Vegetarian Cooking Cuisine: Thai Published on January 18, 2010 Simple but delicious hot and sour mushroom soup seasoned with a vegetarian Thai Nam Prik Pow chili sauce Print this recipe Nam prik pow (Thai red chili) Sauce: 6 fresh green or red chilies, seeded 2 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped 2 shallots, roughly chopped 1 medium tomato 1 green eggplant or baby purple eggplant juice from 1 small lemon 2 tablespoons tamari sauce 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon sugar Soup: 1/2 oz (14 g) dried mushrooms 3 cups vegetable stock 2 teaspoons Nam Prik Pow sauce (above) 1-inch piece lemongrass, finely chopped 3 kaffir lime leaves, roughly chopped (or 1 teaspoon lemon zest) 2 tablespoons tamari sauce 1 teaspoon sugar juice from 1 small lemon 2 cups oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped 3 fresh green chilies, seeded and finely chopped coriander leaves to garnish (optional) Instructions: Begin by making the nam prik pow sauce. Wrap the chilies, garlic, shallots, tomato and eggplant in foil and roast under the broiler until they begin to soften — about 30 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and add the lemon juice, tamari sauce, salt and sugar. Pulse to combine. Meanwhile, soak the dried mushrooms in how water for 20 minutes, then drain and chop. Bring the vegetable stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in the Nam Prik sauce. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer over medium-low heat until the mushrooms are just cooked — tender but not too soft. Serve hot, garnished with fresh coriander leaves if desired. Makes 4 servings

Other Asian recipes from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen to try:
Miso Seaweed Broth with Mushrooms and Carrots
Yunnan Stir-Fried Azuki Beans and Green Pepper
Miso Soup with Wild Mushrooms
Oseng Oseng Tempe

On the top of the reading stack: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, Book 2) by Suzanne Collins

Audio Accompaniment: Consciousness by Windy and Carl

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