Vietnamese Prawn Pho

This is an altered version of the beef Vietnamese noodle soup, also known as Bun Bo Hue.
I was in a nostalgic mood this week and since it used to be my daily lunch when I was working somewhere around Kingsland Road a few years ago, I decided to cook it at home.
We were organising a very tight budget film festival back then, we were all very tired and the spiciness was always the best kick to keep the team going. We had actually renamed it 'Raise The Dead' soup. I miss those guys so much!
Here is the seafood version of it.

3 cloves of garlic, thinly chopped
1 stick of lemongrass / 2 teaspoons of lemongrass paste
4 birdseye red chillis chopped
2cm piece of ginger squashed slightly
6 spring onions trimmed and sliced diagonally
600 ml fish or vegetable stock
3 tablespoons fish sauce (optional) 
400g cooked king prawns (other seafood like squid, mussels and scallops can be used of course)
250-300g rice noodles
200g bean sprouts
lime cut in wedges
hand full of coriander leaves ( I used parsley instead)

You can play a bit and add other ingredients like babycorn, green beans, soya beans, cabbage etc.
Pour the stock into a medium size pan, add the lemongrass, garlic, ginger and two of the chillis and briskly boil for about 15 minutes to create the basic broth. Taste it and if neccessary add the other two chillis. Turn down the heat, cover the pan and leave to simmer for a further 15 minutes. This will allow the flavours to really develop. 
Add the prawns to the soup, and add three of the spring onions, the fish sauce and the herb of your choice. Reserve a little of the herb for garnishing. Put the lid back on the pan.

In a pan of boiling water, cook the bean sprouts for 1-2 minutes, or until they are just tender. Drain them and add them to the soup. Place the rice noodles in the boiling water and cook for as long as the packaging instructions indicate.
Divide the cooked noodles between bowls. Pour the soup over the noodles. Garnish with a little of the coriander or parsley leaves, a few slices of red chilli and spring onion. Serve with a wedge of lime. Mint can also be used, I just do not like it.

Tom Ka Kai, Coconut Thai Soup

Nothing better than a trip to Thailand or at least a visit to your local Thai restaurant, but for the days you can't be bothered to leave the house you can easily prepare this.
Turn this vegetarian by increasing mushrooms in place of chicken and substituting vegetable stock.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch piece
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 200g fresh mushrooms, sliced (a good mix of shitake & oyster mushrooms will do the job)
• 3 spring onions sliced
• 1 stalk lemongrass beaten to death
• fresh galagal root or ginger root, grated
  
• 2 red chillies, crushed
  
• 6 cups good quality chicken stock
• 1 can good quality coconut milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce (but feel free to skip this ingredient)
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• fresh coriander
  

HOW:

In the bottom of a large soup pot, heat the oil over high heat until very hot but not smoking. Salt the chicken and add to oil, tossing to brown all the pieces. Cook about 3 minutes or until outside is browned, but not necessarily cooked all the way through.

Add mushrooms and toss. Allow to cook until some of the moisture is cooked out and the mushrooms are soft. Turn down heat to medium-low.

To prepare the lemongrass, slice and mince the lower portion and reserve the stalk to flavor the soup. You can use a food processor for this, or just mince it by hand. The woody upper portion of the stalk will be removed later, so don't chop it up, simply score it by making a few superficial cuts in it to allow it to flavor the soup.

Add the whites of the onions, reserving the greens. Add the minced lower portion of the lemongrass, grated galangal, and chilies. Toss until just warmed through. Add the lemongrass stalk, lime leaves, chicken stock, coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar and remaining onions, reserving just a few for garnish. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend well.

Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with remaining onion greens and coriander.

Serve over rice noodles for a main dish serving.

Hot Hot Borscht

This is the vegetarian version of the well known and lovely ukranian (Холодник kholodnyk) soup.

1/2 large or 1 small yellow onion, sliced into half moons
2 cloves of garlic
500g beets, shredded
2 medium sweet potatoes, shredded
2 carrots, shredded
2 T olive oil
1/2 head cabbage (red or white), sliced into small pieces

1 small red apple cut in small pieces

4 cups vegetable stock
juice of half lemon
salt
coarsely ground black pepper
thick yogurt or sour creme

Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil with a pinch of salt in a large soup pot for 1-2 minutes. Add beets, carrots, and potato, and another pinch of salt, and stir.

In the meantime, bring the vegetable stock to a boil. When the vegetables are soft (about 5 minutes), add the cabbage and the hot stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, and then add the lemon juice. Serve hot with additional grated black pepper, a swirl of sour cream or yogurt and bread.

Can also be served cold in the summer.