February 8: Thai Shrimp Soup Infused with Lemongrass, Ginger and Chiles

My grocery shopping trip was too late today, so I will make this recipe tomorrow for lunch.

ETA: 2/9/13

Today I made the soup for lunch. I started it a little before 8:00am. I gathered up the ingredients:

I shelled the shrimp and cut them in half lengthwise. Then they went back into the fridge:

I put the shrimp shells, 2 quarts of chicken stock, a cup of diced carrots, 3 tbsp shredded fresh ginger, 2 tbsp minced garlic, and a half a lemon in the slow cooker. The recipe calls for 3 stalks of lemongrass. I couldn't find any, so I assumed you could substitute lemon for it.

That cooked on high 2 to 3 hours. I strained the broth and returned it to the slow cooker. To the broth I added the shrimp, 1 1/2 tbsp each chopped basil, mint and cilantro, the juice of 2 limes, and a can of unsweetened coconut milk. I was supposed to add 1/4 tsp of chile pepper paste and a sliced serrano pepper. I couldn't find the paste in the store, and I seem to have lost the pepper I bought, so we had un-spicy soup. It's okay though, it's better for the kids.

That cooked on high for 15 more minutes to get the shrimp pink, then we served it with a lime slice:

This soup had a great flavor. The herbs really gave the soup a complexity of flavor that combined well with the heaviness of the coconut milk. The lime and coconut are great flavors together, but it doesn't really taste like coconut. I'm really glad too, because DH didn't realize it was in there and he loved it. And he hates coconut! The only thing is that it doesn't really fill you up because it's mostly broth. You'd have to have another course to your meal.