'my Thai' Chicken Soup

evelyn/athens's Note:

The ingredients for RSC #6 seemed to lend themselves to thai cooking, and the recent coldspell screamed SOUP out at me...this is the result. Delicious - and a healthful dinner is on the table in half an hour! Some reviewers have said that lemongrass would be nice and it probably would! Can't get it here in Greece so I just made do with what is available.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 5 cups chicken stock
• 3 pieces peeled fresh ginger, half-inch each
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 limes, juice and zest of
• 2 lemons, juice and zest of
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 8 ounces portabella mushrooms, cut in half (or quarters if very large)
• 4 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (or to taste)
• 8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 -6 birds eye chiles, chopped roughly (the little red ones)
• 1 (10 ounce) bag cleaned baby spinach
• 3/4 cup fresh basil, shredded
• lime wedges or lemon wedge

Directions:

1. Place the stock in a saucepan; add the ginger, garlic, coriander, lime zest and juice and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Add the diced chicken, mushrooms and fish sauce; simmer slowly, uncovered, for 10 minutes; check and adjust seasoning.
3. Add the tomatoes and chiles and cook for 5 more minutes.
4. Stir in the baby spinach and cook 1 minute longer; discard ginger.
5. Serve, topped with shredded basil; garnish with fresh lime wedges in case you want to squeeze some into your soup.
6. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Chef Kate]

Maybe it's because it was so cold outside, but this soup was wonderful! I used my homemade stock and went a little easy on the lime. The fish sauce and the lime give the soup a little tang and freshness. Like Susie, I think a little lemongrass might be a great addition.

[WaterMelon]

This is quite easy to prepare and delicious. I made a few changes - added some sliced cod that I wanted to use up, used Chinese spinach and shitake mushrooms. I feel that the only missing ingredient is lemongrass. Next time I make this, I will definitely add some bruised lemongrass. Thanks for the yummy recipe.

[Susie D]

I loved how quick & easy this soup was to make. I will definitely put it into my menu rotation for nights I really don’t want to cook. For such a simple recipe it was full of flavor and well seasoned. I loved how each flavor had a chance to sing and contribute to the whole. I did stir in some cooked pad thai noodles at the end of the cooking time to give it a little more substance for an evening meal. Topping the soup with fresh basil and lime….yum. Definitely just heat the spinach until warm, going past that will result in yucky looking spinach, as I found in heating the leftovers for lonch the next day.