Shrimp Thai Soup
California-land of cultural diversity
It was in California that I became entranced with the food of Thailand. My earlier experience with eating food from Asian countries was dining in Chinese restaurants. While they are both popular and plentiful in Michigan, where I grew up, they fall short of the flavors that I later experienced with eating Thai food.
Anyone who has travelled through our 31st state knows of the diverse cultural conglomeration. Seemingly countless ethnic restaurants abound in the Berkeley area alone. From Mexican to Spanish, to Indian and Asian walk down any street and wafts of delicacies will tickle your olfactory senses.
Why I like Thai
The reasons I enjoy eating in Thai restaurants are threefold: the food, the service, and the ambience. If you have not had the pleasure of dining in a Thai restaurant let me offer you an invitation to do so because in my opinion all Asian restaurants are not the same.
Thai food is a blend of flavors that entice and seduce the palate. There is a definite spicy element, but not hot like in some Indian or Mexican dishes where all you experience is the heat. Instead, the heat is offset by a sweetness that confuses the tongue, moving it from a position of alarm to one of delight.
What struck me during my initial, and hence thereafter, Thai dining experience was the congeniality of the wait staff. Going above and beyond in service, it was not with a hovering subservience; rather it was more a feeling of attentiveness-nothing was a bother, no request was a problem or difficulty. One young waiter, in a restaurant down the hill from where I lived, would merely nod slightly to anything I would ask and say, “of course.” As simple as that-which brings me to the overall ambience.
If you have the right ingredients, not merely added to the food you prepare, but with the cordial service, soft music, and simple, but appropriate cultural décor, it sets the ambience. The ambience I felt was one of peaceful serenity-a wonderful way to enjoy and digest the food one has eaten.
Leftovers? Make soup!
My cooking adventure
I couldn’t tell you the name of the first Thai restaurant I visited, but when it came to eating out, Thai food became my favorite choice. Years after moving out of California I still rave about the wonderful food. So much so that Christa, my daughter, bought a wonderful Thai cookbook for me one year for Christmas.
A few weeks ago I had some left over flounder and cooked shrimp. Wanting to make soup I ventured off to try my hand at devising a soup recipe to use these main ingredients. While I had intended on making a vegetable soup that is not how it ended up. Instead, I was thoroughly delighted with the results, turning my vegetable soup into a delicious ‘Shrimp Thai Soup.’
Here is the recipe:
Cook's Notes:
I use low sodium canned organic broth.
Fresh seasonings work best, of course.
Add more curry paste for more heat.
Vegetarians: use a second can of vegetable broth instead of chicken.
Shrimp Thai Soup
Ingredients:
Cooked shrimp
Cooked flounder
14 oz of vegetable broth
14 oz of chicken broth
1 can clam juice with clams
Vegetables: I used onion, carrots, baby peas and mushrooms.
Seasonings:
1 tsp minced garlic
1 ½ tsp ginger powder
¾ tsp red curry paste
¼ c lime juice
2 T cilantro
To prepare:
Place vegetable and chicken broth in a 4 quart pot. Add clams and clam juice. Bring to a boil, and then lower to simmer. Add garlic, ginger, and curry paste and stir; continue to simmer for two minutes to blend. Add shrimp and flounder. Dice onion and add to the broth. Chop other veggies into bite size pieces and add to the broth. Allow to simmer for four minutes. Add lime juice and cilantro. Simmer for two more minutes.
Serve with a crusty bread like a French or Italian. Makes more than enough for two people!
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Comments
Wow! Are you ever quick! I just posted this. LOL Let me know if you do make it what you think...it was my own concoction. :) Thanks for visiting and commenting.
LOL When it comes to food I'm lightening fast Denise!!
I just love Thai food, so I really enjoyed reading this. Can't wait to try your recipe out this weekend. Thanks!
I love soup and this Shrimp Thai soup looks really delicious with all that ingredients in it. Will try that out, thanks!
Sounds delicious. I love your adventurous creativity. My husband cooks like that whereas I'm the type to follow recipes without any deviation. It's always far more delightful and fun when an "experiment" turns out to be delicious. The only time hubby's culinary adventure turned into a disaster was the time he marinated some otherwise wonderful steaks in beer. We were newly married, steaks were a rare treat and those he cooked made them completely inedible. We still laugh about it now, but I'm afraid I wasn't very pleasant at the time it happened (and that, I'm ashamed to say, is an understatement).
Thanks for sharing this recipe and also for the explanation about what makes Thai food unique.
Years ago, when I went to visit Quincy on his WestPac, we palled around with another couple. We were in Thailand and on a river cruise. Garrett ordered his food hot and boasted he could handle it. He took one bite and his eyes immediately began to water and his face turned red! It was rather funny.
I'll have to try Thai again because my memory of that trip was that I didn't care much for it. Maybe my tastes have changed over the years.
Hi Denise, this looks delicious! I love any kind of thai soup so I think I will have to try this one out. I'll bookmark it for future reference. I apologize I haven't been in the challenge forum recently but I hope your latest 30 day challenge is going great! Hopefully I will catch up soon. Take care :-)
Hi Denise. This Thai Soup Recipe does sound delicious. I like Thai food and its light texture...and this seems like a soup easy enough to make...and make a good Impression with!
Today I took a break from our business and went out to the mall, and had a delicious Thai lunch. I had sweet and sour chicken with jasmine rice, and soup. It felt so good to enjoy ethnic food!:) My older nephew lives and teaches in Thailand and is married to a beautiful Thai woman. He loves the culture and cuisine.
Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Sounds and looks delicious. Thank's for the tecipe.....
Delmer47-LOL You are funny! I am laughing b/c I am the same way, haha which is why I ended up gaining weight. Not a bad thing, actually-since my new goal is to lose the weight I have a lot of new Hub material to work with!
Karry C-I hope you do try the recipe-let me know how it turns out for you. I may just make another batch this w/e since we are getting a cold spell.
Hi Lady Rain-thanks for your comments. I'm sure you'll enjoy it if uou like Thai.
Gail-I hardly cooked well when I was a new wife/mother. My kids will attest to that! My idea of cooking was opening up a can of Campbells soup and adding it to something,sad but true. I'm proud that I have come a long way since those days and really enjoy preparing food in this way. Thanks for your comments.
Hey Danette-I didn't realize you didn't care for Thai. I hope you do try it again. I don't care for the spicy stuff-I like flavors I can enjoy and not drink something to cool my tongue.
Hi Cloverleaf-Thanks! It is very delicious. You are missed on the challenge page.
b.malin-I didn't consider that it would be a good 'entertainment' soup-thanks, LOL Enjoy the soup.
Marie-it is so good to see you. Thanks for stopping in, busy lady! I did get your email, thank you.
Hi Ruby-you're welcome...I hope you give it a whirl.
I know I'm a little slow, but are there any leftovers? I saw the notice when you posted the hub, but had other pressing matters.
Love Thai food. Tom yum goong (shrimp) and tom yum gai (chicken) are two of my favorite soups. I especially like the lemon grass flavoring and the mushrooms. Sometimes I take the soup without any meat.
But yours sounds like another must-try.
Thanks, Denise!
Hey Lone77star-I'm glad you enjoyed the hub and want to give it a try. I also enjoy the flavor of lemongrass. Thanks for reading.
I too love Thai food. I will have to give this one a try.
Thanks Vicki for stopping by to read and comment-now go cook and eat, LOL Let me know if you do make a batch and if you liked it.
I'm going to try making this tomorrow cause it sounds really good. Thai food is the best I have a book with some really good recipes too.
Looks yummy! And it is low calorie...just what I need.
Hi cnatrianinginfo-nice to meet you. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Hi Carol-thanks for your comment. Yes-it is delicious! Full of wonderful flavors.
Hi Denise, This soup sounds wonderful! I know what you mean about California, that is where I am from and its a joy to experience the cultural diversity especially with food sometimes! Can't wait to try this. :) We will have to visit a Thai restaurant again soon, thanks for the encouragement to do so. Thanks for sharing.
Lucky you! If I had my way my children, grandkids and I would all be living on the West coast in the same area together. Since they won't move I'm over on the East coast. LOL I hope you let me know if you do make the soup and what you think of it. :) Thanks for reading/commenting.
Looks super duper tasty
Thanks for reading and commenting, PDX-I had forgotten about this recipe until just now. It's gotten very cold here in NC and I think I will make a batch. YUM!
sweet. send some over...
PDX-You're funny! Best that you make that soup yourself so you have a FRESH batch, LOL
u can freeze it. I'm not too picky about soup...
Oh, gosh, PDX-and here I thought I was going to read your tale of how you cooked up a batch for yourself and your honey! LOL Come on, guy...I know you can do it!
alright, next time you here from me, I'll have a review!
Oh goodie, Justin! After three visits you are FINALLY going to make this (or have your wife make it???). I'm so happy because I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
I was just getting ready to post another 'Thai' flavored food using Tilapia...
Thanks for visiting.
oh no, denise. I do all the cooking. I'm buying the ingredients for this tonight
Justin-good for you...just let me know the results, ok?
Denise, I made it! served with salmon and angel hair pasta. I didn't use red curry (forgot to buy it) use yellow instead and I didn't use flounder because i cooked it and it disintegrated. Any tips on cooking flounder? It was good. I doctored it with a little rooster sauce.
Wow! That's great Justin! I'm pleased that you went ahead to fix it. Tell me if you tasted the mixture of the flavor of lime and curry? I'm not sure what rooster sauce is, LOL.
Flounder is easy to cook - I sprinkle a bit of lemon juice on it and bake it for 20-30 min at 350 degrees until it is flaky; it depends on the thickness of the fish. Then, I just add it to the soup pot at the last minute just to heat it up.
I'm curious-did you add the salmon to the soup or serve it on the side?
delmer47 7 months ago
Ummmm...yeah I have to make that :-)