Tom Yum Goong Gazpacho

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

For the shrimp oil:
2/3 cup coconut oil
1 Tbsp dried chili flakes
1 small handful of fresh mint leaves, torn into small pieces
5 kaffir lime leaves, torn into small pieces
2 tsps fish sauce
400-500g/1 lb medium head- and shell-on shrimp
1/4 cup water

For the gazpacho:
3/4 cup coconut milk, plus more to drizzle
796ml/27 oz. can of peeled whole tomatoes, divided
5-6 (135g) white cores of the lemongrass stalks, cut into small chunks
1 large thumb (~40 grams) galangal (also called Thai ginger), cut into small chunks
12 kaffir lime leaves, torn into small pieces
3 small red Thai chiles, diced
1 tbsp + 2 tbsp fish sauce, separated
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
4 small Asian shallots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 1/4 tsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions

For the shrimp oil:
In a medium pot, add the coconut oil, chili flakes, mint leaves, lime leaves, and fish sauce. Twist off the heads of the shrimp and add directly to the pot. Peel the shells and legs off and add to the pot, reserving the shrimp meat. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the shells are almost browned, and there are brown bits forming on the side & bottom of the pot. Occasionally stir and break up with a wooden spoon. Add the water, and scrape down the sides so that all the little dark bits melt back into the sauce, and cook for another couple of minutes to reduce slightly. Remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Either discard the solids, or use them for a broth (*see note below).

For the shrimp
De-vein the shrimp and cook them in a hot pan with 1 Tbsp of the just-made shrimp oil. Cook them until they juuuust turn opaque. Remove from heat, season with salt & pepper, and set aside in the fridge.

For the gazpacho
In a blender or food processor, combine the 3/4c coconut milk, 200ml (roughly 1/4 of the can) of tomatoes, lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves, Thai chiles, and 1 Tbsp of fish sauce. Blend for 2-3 minutes until mixture looks more or less uniform. Strain through a very fine sieve or cheesecloth, pressing down thoroughly on the solids, trying to extract as much liquid as possible.

Give your blender/food processor a quick rinse, and add the tomato mixture you’ve just extracted back in. Also add the remaining 600ml of tomatoes, the lime juice, shallots, remaining 2 Tbsp of fish sauce, the brown sugar, and the black pepper. Blend for 1-2 minutes, until completely pureed, then drizzle in 1/4 cup of your homemade shrimp oil with the blender running, until combines. Adjust seasoning to taste, and set aside in the fridge for at least two hours (and up to overnight) for the flavors to meld. Give a good stir again before serving.

Garnish with a generous drizzle of shrimp oil and coconut milk, with some torn cilantro or mint leaves, cracked black pepper, and the chilled shrimp.

*If you want to make a broth from your shrimp-oil solids, I threw in the tough outer-leaves of my lemongrass stalks and the skins from my shallots into the same pot I’d used for the shrimp oil. I covered everything with a generous amount of water (so that everything was covered by 1-2 inches of it), and simmered with the lid on for 45 minutes. I strained the broth through a fine sieve, and used it for congee a few days later.

From toughcookieblog.com