The anticipation is mounting, for I am soon to commence the preparation of a well-known Thai dish (vegan stylee, of course): hot and sour mushroom soup. For the record, the recipe is as follows:

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

4 cups water
1 medium onions, quartered
2 stalks lemongrass, chopped
3 -4 kaffir lime leaves, torn in half
4 cm cube galangal, chopped
2 cm cube fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
3 dried red chilies, chopped
2 fresh hot green chili peppers ( can use red)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons tom yum paste
200 g deep fried tofu
6 shiitake mushrooms, cups sliced
50 g button mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon caster sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh coriander, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

Directions

Put the first nine ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil (this is your stock). Simmer for 15-20 minutes over low-medium heat. Remove from the heat and strain. Reserve the stock and discard the rest.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the Soup Paste for a minute until fragrant. Add the tofu, shiitake and button mushrooms and stir-fry over high heat for 1 minute.

Bring the prepared stock to a boil. Turn the heat to medium and add the sautéed tofu and mushrooms, the soy sauce, sugar and lemon juice. Simmer for 5-6 minutes over medium heat until the mushrooms are tender.
Sprinkle the coriander and basil and remove from heat. Serve hot.

I have all the ingredients to hand, and will report back at a later time with the judge’s verdict…

…which is pretty nice. It was a spicy soup full of taste, almost overpoweringly so. I reckon I could take away a bit of the chilli, maybe replace the texture of the fried tofu with something else, and I am not sure if I like galanga or not. However, I give it an 8 out of 10, and its a sinch to make once the soup stock ingredients have been prepared.