The day night our son was born, we ordered Thai food; pad thai and basil fried rice to be specific!
(A bit more explanation) After a long 24 hrs since my water broke our son was born. In that 24 hrs non of us ate much mostly because I was on epidural and wasn’t allowed to eat and Jaimin was too excited to think about food. Soon our Saahil was with us, our joy was immeasurable and soon he fell asleep and we realized we were hungry. The hospital cafeteria was closed so we decided to order our favorite Thai food. In the moment of happiness we both craved the spicy and sweet thai flavors!
This soup is my take on the Tom Kha soup while trying to get the best of thai flavors in a one pot meal. The sweetness in the soup comes from coconut milk and sugar, tangy from lemongrass and lemon and spicy from chili paste. Best of thai flavors!
It pairs well with rice or noddles; I love to have just the soup with some toasted peanuts and sesame.
Happy Cooking!
Thai Tofu Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp coconut oil melted
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 inch ginger minced
- 2 stalks of lemongrass outer layer peeled and cut into big chunks
- 2 tbsp sambal oelek
- 1 head of broccoli chopped
- 8 ounce shiitake mushrooms sliced
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 pack of extra firm tofu
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- zest of one lemon
- 1 can of full fat of coconut milk 13 oz
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- salt per taste
- chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Drain the water from the tofu packet. To drain more water place the tofu on a flat plate; place a cutting board on the top, add some weight on the cutting board and let it stand for 15 minutes. I use my 8 inch cast iron skillet as the weight. Cut the tofu into 1 inch cubes.
- In a big pot on medium heat, heat the oil. Saute ginger, garlic and lemongrass until soft and fragrant; around 3 minutes.
- Stir in sambal oelek followed by broccoli, mushrooms, bell pepper and tofu. Give everything a big stir.
- Add vegetable broth, 1 tsp of salt and zest of one lemon to the mix and bring eveything to a gentle boil.
- Stir in coconut milk and sugar and cook for 10 minutes on a low heat. Adjust salt as per your taste.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro. (I like to sprinkle toasted peanuts and sesame)
- Serve on bed of jasmine rice or rice noddles; Or cozy up with warm bowl of soup and holiday lights.
