Thai hot and sour soup (Dtom Yum Pak ต้มยำผัก)

Having lived in Thailand for several years, I really enjoy cooking Thai food - I can honestly say that the food was my absolute favorite part of living in Thailand.

Since becoming vegan, I haven't made many Thai dishes aside from the basic vegetable stir fry over rice and some pad thai (which, I really don't think is as good without egg.... but I digress). In Thailand pretty much all food is made with fish sauce - which depending on how far out in the country you are may even have small chunks of the fermented fish left in it. I can't say that I ever grew to love fish sauce, but by the time I left Thailand I hardly noticed the flavor that I found so rancid when I had first arrived. When I first returned to the US, I bought a bottle of fish sauce and occasionally used it when I wanted the food to taste most authentic. But, admittedly, I lost my taste for it the longer I was home and both the fish flavor and the high salt content led me to return to soy sauce.  (My husband, being Nordic, really enjoys fish sauce...but generally I just let him add it to his food when he craves it. Overall, we've both moved away from using it.)

In any case, my point is that I did stray from some of the authenticity of this meal, but overall I thought it tasted great and very near to the "real" flavor that I so love.

Traditionally, this soup is made with chicken or shrimp, but those are not necessary for it to be deee-licious! If you are a fish eater, you can make it with fish or shrimp - just add them after the water is boiling for the first time.

yummy soup served with brown jasmine rice

Ingredients (I admit I was also not local nor seasonal for this meal, but boy was it good!)
1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 small yellow onion, cut in strips
1/2 - 1 jalapeno chilli or 2-4 Thai chilis, crushed then chopped (adjust amount for spice level of your liking)
3 cups organic vegetable broth
3 cups water
3 stems lemon grass, crushed and cut diagonally into inch-long pieces
1 inch piece galangal, peeled and chopped
1 tsp tamarind paste
5 kaffir lime leaves, torn from edge to stem to release falvor
4-5 medium crimini or button mushrooms, chopped into slices
8-10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Tbsp agave nectar (traditionally made with nectar)
3 Tbsp soy sauce or shoyu
4 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Directions

1. Heat coconut oil in pot over medium heat until liquid and pot is hot. Add onion and chilli peppers and cook for about 4 minutes. (Be careful when adding the chilli - don't put your head over the pot, as the steam will hurt your eyes and cause a coughing fit)
2. Add vegetable broth and water and bring to a boil.
3. Place lemon grass and galangal into a spice ball and put in the water as it comes to a boil. Add tamarind paste and kaffir lime leaves directly into the water. (You can everything directly in the water, but you'll have to take out the lemon grass and galangal, which can be a pain, when you eat as neither is particularly edible.)
4. If you are adding meat or fish add that and the mushrooms once the water is boiling and maintain boil until it is cooked thoroughly. Otherwise, add mushrooms and continue cooking until they are becoming soft.
5. Add agave, soy sauce, lime juice and tomatoes and bring back to a low boil.
6. Reduce heat to low and simmer an additional 5 minutes.
7. Serve with rice. (I used brown jasmine rice)
8. Eat and enjoy!

Aroy, mai?  (Is it delicious?) อร่อยไม่