Hot and Sour Tamarind Soup

Hot, sour, salty, sweet, and umami in every spoonful! This sensory experience is a great base recipe for you to make your own versions—add seafood like shrimp, scallops, and clams. If you can buy the shrimp with the heads on, then peel them, saving all the shells, and simmer the peeled shrimp with the broth for 10 minutes, then proceed with the recipe below—this will result in a deep shrimp flavor. Traditionally, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal are left in most Thai soups, make sure to tell your guests to eat around the lime leaves or you can remove them before serving.

Serves 4–6
 Preparation time: 10 mins
 Cooking time: 15 mins

1 small package (about 2 oz/60 g) dried bean thread noodles (cellophane noodles)

6 tablespoons chili paste in soya bean oil (nahm prik pow)

8 cups (2 liters) chicken or seafood stock/broth

2 tablespoons fish sauce

8 slices galangal (substitute ginger)

4 stalks lemongrass, tender inner part of bottom third only, bruised

8 kaffir lime leaves (substitute 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest)

4–6 Thai chilies, smashed

1 cup (150 g) cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in halves, or large diced tomatoes

1 can (15 oz/425 g or 7 oz/200 g drained weight) straw mushrooms, cut in halves

½ cup (125 ml) Tamarind Pulp or concentrate (page 25)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

¼ cup (7 g) Thai basil leaves

1 lime, cut into wedges

1 Pour boiling water over the noodles, let soak for 5 minutes, drain and rinse with cool water. Cut the noodles so they will fit on a soup spoon (just snip with a pair of scissors). Reserve at room temperature.

2 Combine the chili paste, stock, fish sauce, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and chilies in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat to simmer for 5 minutes.

3 Stir in the tomatoes and straw mushrooms and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in the tamarind and lime juice.

4 Taste and adjust the seasoning with fish sauce, sugar, and tamarind.

5 Divide the noodles and basil leaves into serving bowls, ladle the soup over the basil leaves and serve immediately with lime wedges on the side.