Thai Soup with a Citric Flavour

I am a huge fan of Chinese recipes. Be it eating out or takeaways, I'm always in. I love how something so simple as the garlic and the spring onions work together to create something so delicious – albeit with a few little tweaks – creating hundreds of delicious and sumptuous dishes that always succeed to fail my health (read weight loss) mission. And along with it, I must mention two other similar genre: the  Thai and  the Tibetan recipes.

Today, I am going to share a recipe, very popular with the Chinese restaurants around Kolkata and a very dear favourite of mine. I have not accomplished the recipe perfectly but this is as close as I can get to it right now. If I revise it further, I'll be sure to update it. I highly doubt if this is an authentic Thai dish to start with. I personally believe the restaurants serve an Indianised twist on the original recipe and I have tried to follow what I had at a number of Chinese restaurants around the city.


This is a delicious Thai soup recipe with a citric flavour. There are both vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions of this soup (apparently) but being the perfect omnivore that I am, I have always chosen the non vegetarian version because they serve mushrooms along with it, so I don't lose out on anything. And this recipe is extremely helpful and works wonder during winter, especially at times like now, when I am suffering from a terrible head cold. This is probably the easiest soup ever (except, I guess chicken clear soup, haha). One last note: you can use cooked baby prawns available at supermarkets directly into the recipe.

PS: You can always skip the animals and add more mushrooms, carrots or tofu to make it vegetarian

Ingredients

For two

• Chicken – about 2 small breasts
• Closed cup chestnut mushrooms – 2-3, thinly sliced vertically
• Small/baby prawns – 7-8, peeled and slightly boiled
• Cornstarch – 1 tablespoons, depending on the desired thickness
• Coriander leaves/Cilantro – chopped
• Lemon/lime juice – 1-2 tablespoons
• Egg – 1
• Salt – to taste
• Water

Method

1. Add sufficient water to a deep, thick bottomed pan and boil the chicken in it. Don't forget to add salt.
2. In the meantime, marinate the boiled prawns with a little salt to taste.
3. When the chicken has boiled enough, reduce the heat to let it simmer. The rest of this recipe will follow this heat settings unless mentioned otherwise. Add the separately boiled prawns in it, and cook for a little while.
4. Add the mushrooms in it and cook for about a minute.
5. Add the lemon/lime juice in it. I have not used bottled versions so I cannot tell how it will taste. I personally feel the fresh ones should go in to have that fresh citrus-y smell.
6. Stir occasionally and add the chopped coriander leaves.
7. Mix the cornstarch with a little water into a smooth paste, preferably a little runny. Add it to the pan and boil until the soup turns clear.
8. Add a little more lemon juice, coriander leaves or salt according to your taste (optional), but remember to cook it in, if you do.
9. Beat an egg thoroughly and swirl it into the soup 2-3 times using a chopstick if you have one, or manage it with a skewer. Spoons don't generally have the same effect but I suppose if you can't find anything else, use a cutlery knife. Swirl and take the pan off the hob.
10. That's it. Serve hot.

Tip

Squeezing lemon/lime without wasting

Heat a little water and keep the lemon/lime dipped in it until they turn warm, then cut up and squeeze them out. That will ensure you're harvesting the most from your fruit.