The other day I had to venture out of my comfort zone. I live in a small town and I believe the population is about 15,000 people. What’s really cool about this town is that when you pull out onto the main street, there is no waiting, there is very little traffic. You do have to check left and right though as it is a one way street and on occasion someone comes down the road going the wrong way. There is a draw back to this easy living. There is no Whole Foods Market, no Asian grocers, no really good organic produce stands and no large mall (we’ve got lots and lots of oranges and grapefruit trees). For those things I have to drive into Orlando but I will say I haven’t lost my big city driving skills. Look out, the demon woman driver is on the roads and on a mission to find curry leaves. Ramona at Curry and Comfort uses curry leaves in a lot of her recipes and I want to know what they taste like. If you’ve never stopped by her site please do, you will be glad that you did.
I wasn’t able to find curry leaves but I did find some lemongrass. Lemongrass makes a really wonderful tea but also makes for a delicate soup base. Hey, Someone just tweeted me while I was writing this with a link for curry leaves.
Once again I searched the Internet for a vegetarian lemongrass soup but mainly they include chicken or have a chicken base and others had shrimp. I had a wonderful lemongrass soup at a Thai restaurant a couple years ago when I was in New York. It was light and spicy but also had shrimp. I picked the shrimp out and gave them to my sister. I have based this on what I can remember from that dish.
Chop the lemongrass into 2 inch pieces and then slice down the center, add to the soup pot along with the broth and coconut milk, garlic and ginger. Bring to a boil and them simmer on low for 30 minutes.
Once the broth is done simmering you will want to strain it through some cheese cloth. The lemongrass stalks are not edible, I found that out the hard way.
Bring the broth back to a simmer and add the mushrooms, snow peas and the rice noodles. You can add the lime juice e at any time. I added it in the beginning and them some at the end before serving. Simmer until the noodles are soft. Garnish with grated ginger or scallions.
Ingredients
2-3 stalks fresh lemongrass
3-4 dried red peppers
1 inch ginger sliced
2 cloves garlic sliced (optional)
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup fresh coconut milk if you can find it
6 oz tofu cubes
handful of snow peas
handful of mushrooms sliced
rice noodles about 4oz
juice of half a lime or more
grated ginger, scallions, lime slices for garnish
This is pretty spicy so you may not want to add too many dried red peppers. I love the spice and if you’re cold the heat will warm you up. I hope that you like it.
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YUM! Was the restaurant in NY called Room Service?! I went there in August and have been dreaming about their lemongrass soup ever since.
I’m in awe of this recipe! The ingredients are calling to me through my nose already (it’s true, that’s how I cook, bloodhound style, lol) Thank you so much for sharing this and stopping by my blog. Have a wonderful day =))
I’ve never lived in a small town but I wonder how it’s like. Everyone knows each other, sort of like big family. You know neighbors and all. Sounds wonderful though. I know it’s harder to experience something different, but there are good things in a small town that I envy about.
Anyway, as a foodie, I understand the frustration of not getting ingredients. I often wonder what if I ended up somewhere there is no Japanese condiments and ingredients. I’d be paying so much money on shipping to buy stuff. Lol. Lemongrass flavor is one of my favorite Thai or SE Asian flavors. Soup especially tastes so good. I love your photo here and great idea to put it up on header. It’s beautiful. I can totally imagine I could drink the whole pot (not bowl!) of this!
I feel the same exact way about where I live! I live about 30 minutes north of Jacksonville, and most of the time I love it. But sometimes when I’m on the hunt for some specific baking ingredient it drives me crazy to have to drive to Jax and get it. I’ve kind of turned it into like a once a month something I for me trip though and make the most out of going!
This soup is absolutely STUNNING!
Made this recipe last night. It was awesome. But I did a few changes. I had vegetable stock on hand instead of just vegetable broth. The stock was a bit rich so I thinned it out with water. I kept the amount of coconut milk the same. Also I prepared my lemongrass as you stated but pounded it to release more oils. I used thai chilis split in half and added them during the last 15 minutes of the simmering time with the garlic, brothe, milk, and ginger. The heat was perfect. I added not only tofu but also shrimp. I think I may have used too much tofu. I wasn’t crazy about the tofu flavor and next time will use less. The lime was the icing on the cake. A delicious, comforting soup. Loved it! Next time I am going to try dried shitake mushrooms instead of regular mushrooms and maybe try adding a few halved cherry tomatoes. This is a dish you can definitely experiment with.
Thanks Heather for the lovely comment and that you made the soup. I think the shitake mushrooms would be great also. I like the idea of pounding the lemongrass to release more of it’s flavor and aroma. I will be making this again myself. I am rooting some of the extra lemongrass stalks and then plant in the ground. someone e-mailed and told to give it a try. Have a great day!
Delicious!!!
~Rebecca
This soup looks absolutely delightful! What great flavors and healthy to boot! I would guess I would have a hard time finding curry leaves in our smallish town either, but totally worth it for the low stree life!
I love spicy, light but hearty soups. I’d go full spice for this, it looks perfect.
Love the lemongrass flavor.One of my friends used to have lemongrass tea.Such an easy and light soup! Perfect for a light dinner.
Holy yum! I love spicy soups — lemongrass are perfect and reminds me of thai flavors :)
I can totally relate to having to drive elsewhere to get ingredients. And then get there and not find what I need. You did awesome with this one though. Love the creativity. Sometimes us folks in boonieland need to think outside the box. I have to say I love the photos, particularly the first one.
If you are too spiced up with this lovely soup, come by my site I have a sweet surprise for you.
By the way congrats on Top 9. Your soup deserved this and now you really need a treat.
mmmm, this soup looks fantastic. It reminds me of my summer spent in Thailand; and it’s so perfect for a cold night. I’m going to pick up some lemongrass tomorrow, you’ve inspired me!
This looks delicious! I love the combination of lemongrass and coconut- yum!
Yum… can’t wait to try it… though I will use chicken! ;) I love Thai food!
I love lemongrass soups! They just add that extra something. It would be perfect for health too!
So tasty looking! We have tons of thai chili’s that we were not sure what to do with… now, we know exactly what to use them for! Thanks!
Love lemongrass and these Thai flavors.
Congratulations on getting top 9!! I am so happy for you!! I’m glad they recognized what a wonderful recipe this truly is. :) Yay for the Lemongrass. :)
I was just saying to a friend that I wanted to try cooking with lemongrass. I love it at Thai restaurants but never knew what to do with it at home. Thanks for the tip not to eat the stalks. :)
I instantly fell in love with this soup. Great flavours in there, though I wish you had curry leaves to add more wonderful flavours!
I am right outside Jacksonville and I have no idea where to find lemon grass or curry leaves. I bet I’d need to cross the big bridge on over to the “ritzy” part of town. It would definitely be worth the drive! That soup looks amazing.
Mmmm, I love lemongrass, this soup would transport me to cloud nine! :) Well deserved Top 9!
Here I am wishing to live in a small town, away from the hectic life but I would miss my groceries :) But we can have it all, right?
You have done a fantastic job recollecting the soup recipe. spicy soup is such comfort during winter. Thai lemongrass soup usually have lots of tomatoes, it adds the sour taste.
On the side, you can easily grow lemongrass in the summer. Soak the lemongrass stalk (bulb end) in water until roots form 1/2 inch long (may take 2 weeks to a month). and plant it in your garden, or in a pot with lots of rich soil. Then you will have lemongrass anytime you want and freeze them for the winter :)
Suzi your soup look incredible, and recipe is fantastic..I am big fan of Ramona’s site..she is very talented!
Thank you for sharing and and have a lovely day sweetie!
This looks absolutely delicious and of course you have great photographs!
Mmmm. I love lemon grass soup. But I’ve never made it myself. Our neighborhood vegetable store actually has lemon grass! Now I am going to have buy some and try this soup recipe out!
Mmmm I love lemongrass and this soup sounds just perfect!!
What a gorgeous soup, and good for you for venturing out of your comfort zone!
I pressed my luck and went out again today, found the curry leaves but mad lady driver got a speeding ticket. Geez.
This sounds really lovely. I love the flavor of lemongrass and this would make a perfect lunch. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
We always used to get lemon grass and coconut soup when we went out to Thai food. We haven’t found a good Thai place since we moved, so I also ventured out to an Asian market last week. I’d like to recreate some of our favorite Thai dishes with some of the fun ingredients I found, and I’ll definitely add your soup to the list.
Looks delicious! I love spicy soups! Great presentation too!
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Suzi – you soup looks delicious! I love these simple but tasty Thai soups. I haven’t ever had curry leaf either, but I do love lemon grass. Great substitution. I do live in a big city with an Asian market but still can’t find the time to get over there very often. I finally made it last week for the first time in 6 months. Should have looked for curry leaves! Lovely soup!
Suzi, I’m almost thinking you could make the chocolate velvet ice cream without an ice cream maker. Since you whip it up before freezing, it didn’t gain the volume that often comes when it processes in the ice cream maker. Maybe try a third of a batch? That way you don’t waste a lot of ingredients if it doesn’t work :)
What a gorgeous bowl of soup…I’d love some for dinner! I’ve never seen curry leaves around here, either, but we do have some Asian markets, so it would be worth the visit :)
This soup does look perfect for the scratchy throat I have right now. I think my husband has passed his sickness on to me! The lemongrass and the spice does sound comforting. Thanks for sharing this one-yum!
Suzi.. you’re so sweet to give me a shout out. :) I’m so sorry you have not found curry leaves (even after driving all around to find them). I’m glad you found lemongrass. I love it too. Actually lemongrass is one of my favorite ingredients to work with. This soup looks amazing. I would eat a big bowl of it in a heartbeat. Really spectacular job! :) I wish you luck the next time you go to Orlando. If you cannot find them at an Indian grocery store, maybe an Asian one will have them. I found Panda leaves recently when I was browsing around my Asian store. It was in the frozen section. I could not believe I found them because they are also great in Sri Lankan cooking. Thanks again for mentioning me in your post. :) Have a great day/night. ~ Ramona
Whenever I visit thai restaurant I always have noodles or curry. Never tried the soup. I think I should try this as it looks fantastic on you blog
Thanks for stopping by. Definitately try the lemograss soup next time you go.
I know this might seem odd, but I have all of these ingredients at home right now… and I am going use this as a spring board to make a quick soup tonight. thanks! :) Yummy!
Thanks for stoppping by. I really love the lemongrass flavor. Let me know how it turns out.
What a great vegetarian soup ! The long drive’s really worth the effort then hahaha
I’ve never had fresh curry leaves but I’ve discovered them dry in a local spice shop. In my opinion, they work just as well!
This soup sounds delicious! Refreshing and full of all my favorite thai flavors!