Spicy Vegetable Soup

These are very hot little firecrackers from the orient. They can be used to add spice to almost any oriental dish. They dry very easily and can be stored and used this way for a long time.

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Ingredients:

Paste Ingredients:
5 cloves garlic
5 small shallots
2 red Thai chile peppers
1 Tablespoon krachai (AKA finger root or Chinese keys)
1 teaspoon white peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon gapi (shrimp paste)
1 teaspoon dried shrimp
3 cooked shrimp

Soup Ingredients:
6 cups water
8-10 freshwater shrimp
1/2 cup kabocha squash
1/2 cup chayote
1/2 cup loofah
1/2 cup baby corn
1/2 cup mushrooms
1-2 Tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup lemon basil

Instructions:

Makes 3-4 servings

Place your dried shrimp in a small food processor and blend until they are broken down into a fine powder. Make your paste by using a mortar and pestle to pound everything together. I generally start with the white peppercorns, garlic, shallots, and Thai chiles. Once this has formed a paste, I add the dried shrimp powder, krachai, gapi, and cooked shrimp.

Bring a pot of water to a slow boil. Add the paste you just made and allow it to cook for a few minutes. Next add your vegetables to the soup, starting with the ones that require the longest cooking time. Once they are almost done, add the fresh shrimp and cook until they are done. Add fish sauce to taste.

Take the soup off the heat. Add the lemon basil leaves and serve with fresh jasmine rice.

From rachelcooksthai.com