Hot and Sour Thai Prawn Soup with Lemongrass

What you need

• 600 g (1.3 lb) whole prawns, medium, shell and head on
• 1.5 l (6 cups) water
• 3 stalks lemongrass
• 40 g (1 1/2 oz) galangal, thinly sliced
• 6 makrut lime leaves
• 4 shallots, peeled and halved
• 6 bird's eye chillies, or to taste
• 200 g (7 oz) straw or oyster mushrooms, halved or torn
• 1 tbsp Thai chilli paste (nam prik pao)
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4 tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 handful coriander leaves

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Peel and devein the prawns, leaving the tails on. Keep the heads and shells and refrigerate the prawns.

2. 2

   Rinse the heads and shells, put them in a pot with the water and simmer for 15 min. Strain the stock and return it to the pot.

3. 3

   Trim the lemongrass, cut it into 5 cm (2 in) lengths and bruise it with the back of a knife. Bruise the shallots and chillies lightly too.

4. 4

   Return the stock to a boil. Drop in the shallots, chillies, galangal, lemongrass and the lime leaves torn in half, then simmer for 10 min to infuse.

5. 5

   Add the mushrooms and let them cook for 2 min.

6. 6

   Stir in the chilli paste, fish sauce and sugar.

7. 7

   Add the prawns and simmer just until they turn pink and opaque, 1-2 min. Take the pot off the heat.

8. 8

   Stir in the lime juice off the heat so it stays bright. Taste: the soup should be sour first, then salty and hot. Adjust with more lime juice or fish sauce.

9. 9

   Ladle into bowls and top with coriander. The lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves flavour the soup but are not eaten.

Imported from tasteasianfood.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.