Travel Blogs

Regional Recipe - Hot & Sour Shrimp Soup

This hot and sour shrimp soup is super speedy, but it’s packed with fresh herbs and delicious Thai flavors.
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 small red chilies, seeds removed, finely chopped
• 1 inch-piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp tamarind paste
• 8 ounces of glass (bean thread) noodles
• 5 ounces green beans or snake beans, trimmed, cut into 1 inch lengths
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 16 large uncooked shrimp with tails on, peeled and deveined
• Cilantro sprigs and lime quarters, to serve

Instructions:
Place the stock, kaffir lime leaves, chili, ginger, fish sauce, tamarind paste and 2 cups water in a large heavy-based saucepan, and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the glass noodles in a large heatproof bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover. Set aside for 3 minutes to soften, then rinse and drain well and divide among serving bowls.
Add the green or snake beans to the soup and simmer for a further 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and shrimp, then remove from the heat. Stand for 1 minute until shrimp are just cooked, then ladle soup over the noodles and garnish with cilantro sprigs. Serve immediately, with lime quarters if desired.