Kelly Rossiter
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I'm spending a few glorious days at the cottage with my husband and son and two of his friends. Just as it has been in the city, the weather has been all over the place; hot, chilly, damp, and then some thunderstorms, so the menu choice was not so easy. They are adventurous eaters all, so I was looking for something a bit different from the usual fare. On the stormy afternoon, I decided on a Thai-style soup that would suit the day. This is really a broth kind of soup, so I served it in mugs during the spectacular lightning and thunder show we had, rather than a cup of tea.
I've made many recipes with cilantro as last minute ingredient, or as a garnish, but you seldom see a recipe where it is front and centre. Two of the weekend group are vegetarian, so the chicken stock called for in the recipe was out of the question and I hadn't prepared any vegetable stock, so I made the soup with water. I didn't get the depth of flavour that I would otherwise have had, but it still was a really tasty soup. My son, who is a fiend for hot chilies, raised his eyebrows when I asked him to seed and chop four very hot bird's eye chilies to add to the pot. He thought it would be much too hot for everyone else, but the soup just had a nice tingle to it.
This recipe was really easy to make and the smell of garlic, ginger and chili floated through the cottage whetting everyone's appetite all the more. It seems to me that you could add some noodles to this if you wanted to, or use it as a base for a larger vegetable soup.
Cilantro and Coconut Soup
2 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock, or water
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, unpeeled, but chopped
6 spring onions, finely chopped
4 small red chilies, seeded and finely chopped
2 lemongrass stalks, chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 bunch cilantro, leaves reserved, stalks and roots finely chopped
juice of 1 lime
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 can (14 oz) light coconut milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
- Heat together the stock, ginger, spring onions, chilies, lemongrass and garlic. Simmer gently for 30 minutes. Add cilantro roots and stalks, lime juice, fish sauce, and coconut milk. Simmer gently for 5 minutes.
- Strain and return to the pan. Finely chop the cilantro leaves and add them to the soup with the cream. Warm through and serve.
From Roast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson.
Difficulty Level: Easy
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