I know what you’re thinking!! “Christina, Coconut Lemongrass Soup has entirely too many ingredients for me! You can take this recipe & shove it.” To that, my honest reply is, “You’re correct! It’s a lot of effing ingredients!” (I dare you to make sense of effing, Auto-correct! D’OH!! It DID by turning “effing” into “offing”!” And you, Sir, are a formidable opponent.)

Use this recipe to challenge yourself to:
a) Dirty every pot/pan/measuring cup/knife & cutting board in your house.
b) Impress the checkout woman at Ralph’s with your slew of exotic ingredients,
c) Make a beautiful, yummy soup that is sure to impress!

All you need are these ingredients:

Hooo boy, that’s a lot of stuff!

This picture was so dark as a cloud was passing over the house at just that moment. I brightened it in Photoshop. It still looks weird/ugly. As my dad always says, try not to think about it. He’s a real softie.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Infusion:
1.5 c dry white wine
(4) 14.5 oz cans light coconut milk
12 cloves garlic, peeled & bruised
6 stalks lemongrass, cut into 2 inch pieces & bruised
12 slices fresh ginger
3 Thai chilis (cut lengthwise & seeded)

Ok. First you’re going to make the “infusion.” This is great news! You’ll make this, pop it in the fridge, and enjoy the rest of your evening with the whole bottle of dry white wine (less the 1.5 cups, mind you), Bravo TV and a massive pile of laundry to avoid.

THE INFUSION
Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let it sit for a minimum of 2 hours. Overnight is ideal. And more supportive of any Bravo habit.

NOTE: Wearing rubber gloves, I used 3 Thai chilis which I first sliced lengthwise, scraped out the seeds, and then chopped. Thai chilis are MORE THAN HOT. (If you don’t believe me, click that link & scroll down – Thai chilies merit a 5 chili pepper heat rating which is 1 chili pepper hotter than a Serrano chili pepper. D’OH!)

Slice ‘em lengthwise

To say these are hot is an understatement.

Get rid of these seeds. Unless you’re making this soup for an enemy. Oh yeah, and no matter how much your eye itches, do NOT SCRATCH YOUR EYE!

[Incidentally, the infusion can be stored in the fridge for up to a week in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, after straining it.]

Ok. Now for the soup!

INGREDIENTS
For the Soup:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 c minced onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 teaspoons salt
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
2 c chopped cabbage
About 10 small mushrooms, quartered (feel free to do more if you like them!)
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, thinly sliced in short strips
1/2 pound extra firm tofu, diced
1.5 c basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1-3 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tsp sugar

OPTIONAL: 10 kaffir lime leaves, torn
ALSO OPTIONAL:
Any veggies will be fine as substitutes: cauliflower, baby corn etc.

THE SOUP
1. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, saute about 4-5 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic, ginger and half the salt for another minute or two.

2. Add the carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, and the rest of the salt and stir. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

My advice: unless you want pink soup, do NOT use purple cabbage!

3. Add zucchini and bell pepper, cooking for another minute or two.

4. Strain the infusion into the soup, and heat to almost boiling.

5. Turn heat down to low and simmer for a few minutes.

6. Add the tofu, basil, lime juice, about 10 torn kaffir lime leaves (if you have ‘em!) & sugar.

7. Add cayenne & curry powder to taste. Another option if you have it: add fish sauce. Of course I didn’t have any fish sauce so I didn’t add any!

Oh my gosh! I love this soup but I loved it even more over the next two days. You may notice my finished soup has a pinkish hue to it. That became even more pronounced each day and was due to the purple cabbage. I used purple cabbage simply because I had it in my fridge already. You should use a non-purple cabbage. Unless you want pink soup!

SUBSTITUTIONS:
1. If you can’t get Thai chilis, you can use Jalapeños or Serranos. See the link I posted above about how to substitute them.
2. Don’t worry about the kaffir lime leaves if you can’t get them!
3. Lemon juice can replace the lime juice in a pinch.
4. Vegetables – feel free to throw any veggies you think will be good in there! I chose veggies for beauty, color, and convenience.

This soup will really wow your company! Maddie surprised me by picking out all the mushrooms. And then EATING them. What kid does this?

Adapted from Mollie Katzen’s Vegetable Heaven. (Thank you, Nina!!)