So, I screwed this up but it was still SO GOOD! I will definitely make this again, in part because I had to make a special trip to Whole Foods to get star anise. Prettiest spice I have come across.
When I started eating vegan, one of my goals was not to do dishes that are straight up copy cats of non-vegan dishes. I don’t have any desire to make vegan pizza or vegan spaghetti and meat balls for example. I AM sort of intrigued though to try making vegan mac and cheese just because I think the taste would be interesting.
But I did this more for health reasons and as it is turning out, learning a lot more about cooking than I thought. I have never tried cooking Indian food before and now this is my first foray into Thai food.
Three ingredients I have never bought before and what I learned:
1. Star anise. If I could put pretty flower shaped spices into every soup, I would. Also, I somehow missed the fact that anise obviously means what we Americans call “licorice.” Duh, but I didn’t get it until I got it home and smelled it.
2. Lemongrass. I’ve seen it and been confused by it. Never bought it and found out I was still confused. So you peel back the outer layers and are supposed to just use the tiny bulb at the bottom for the recipe. I think that is what I used? It is hard to tell. You also need to buy three lemongrass, I just bought one.
3. Dried shiitake. This is a pretty common ingredient, I just have not used it before. So, I was a COMPLETE IDIOT! I just dumped this into the soup without realizing that I needed to soak it in water beforehand. It also helps if you chop it up also, duh! You could also easily double the mushrooms in this recipe.
Other than that, this soup is SO GOOD! And you can add so much stuff to it, a different result each time. And it is an easy recipe to make, does not take much.
Here is a link to the recipe.
4 cups mushroom or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon organic cornstarch
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (regular vegetable oil will do, too)
1 red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin, long pieces
Big pinch salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced lemongrass (3 stalks lemongrass)
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 star anise
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 oz dried shiitakes
2 tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari to make it gluten free)
1 roughly chopped tomato
Fresh black pepper
15 oz can lite coconut milk
Juice of half a lime
To serve (obviously just pick and choose, these are just suggestions):
Cooked rice noodles or jasmine rice
Fresh cilantro
Fresh basil (thai basil if you can find it)
Grilled tofu (seasoned simply with sesame oil, black pepper and salt)
Roasted cashews
Cooked aduki beans
Steamed broccoli or cauliflower
Finely sliced bok choy
Extra wedges of fresh lime
Soak the dried mushrooms in water according to the directions on their packet. Rinse, remove stems and chop into large pieces.
Mix the cornstarch into the broth and set aside (this is easiest if you just mix it into about a cup of broth, then pour the rest of the broth in.)
Preheat a 4 quart pot over medium heat. Saute onion and pepper in the oil with a big pinch of salt, until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic, lemongrass, ginger and red pepper flakes and mix in. Cook until fragrant, about a minute, then pour in the broth/cornstarch mixture and add most of the other ingredients: star anise, cinnamon, shiitakes, soy sauce, tomatoes and fresh black pepper. Stir often for the first 10 minutes or so, until the cornstarch has thickened the broth a bit. Now cover pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to simmer and cook covered for a good half hour, until mushrooms are completely softened.
Add coconut milk and lime, and taste for salt. Heat through and serve with fresh herbs and other accouterments.
Oh, and I just realized and confirmed how fatty coconut milk is! Lite coconut milk for life.
Vegan For Meat Lovers 