Spicy Vegetarian Mushroom Soup

If you enjoy mushrooms, then you'll love this delicious Thai soup with a rich and earthy broth flavored with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, and tamarind. We like it spicy, so we add a few of our very hot Thai chilies, but they can be left out and the soup still tastes great. Known as Kaeng Hed, this vegetarian recipe will be especially satisfying to our friends that don't eat meat.

Yield: 1 - 2 serving

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cooking time: 12 Minutes

Ready in: Less than 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

2 Cups Straw Mushrooms
1 cup Bamboo shoots
1 stalk Lemongrass
2 - 3 slices Galangal Root
4 Kaffir Lime leaves
1 Thai Long Chili
3 - 4 Thai Hot Chilies
2 Tablespoons Glutinous Rice
2 teaspoons Light Soy Sauce
2 teaspoons Tamarind Paste
1 teaspoon Salt

Basic Directions:

1) Grind the glutinous rice into a fine mush.

2) Clean cut and prepare the mushrooms, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and red chili.

3) Boil the galangal and lemongrass in 2 cups of water for 5 minutes, then season with ground rice, soy sauce, tamarind paste, and hot chili. Boil for one more minute.

4) Add the mushrooms and bamboo shoots and boil them for 5 minutes, or until softened.

5) Add additional tamarind, soy sauce, or salt as need to balance the flavor, then add the mild red chili and kaffir lime leaves. Boil for one minute more, then serve.

For more detailed information and a free video lesson, visit this web page: thaicookbook.tv/?rid=81