VEGETARIAN TOM KHA

Vegetarian tom kha

VEGETARIAN TOM KHA

#SIAintheKitchen

The quintessential hot and sour soup, Thai version!

Who doesn’t love a good tom kha? Typically, this soup is served with chicken but I was craving all the vegetables so just stuck with making a vegetarian version of it. I had never made this soup before and I was expecting something super creamy - might have to double up on the coconut milk; however, I did love the sourness of this soup - it is so typical Thai! Really reminded me of my time in Thailand almost two years ago… It’s crazy how fast time flies.

This soup does have quiet a kick to it and the vegetables and protein (tomato, tofu, straw mushrooms and bamboo shoots) are the perfect spongey vegetables to soak up all the delicious broth. Seriously, once I had finished this, it made me wish I had doubled up the recipe!

VEGETARIAN TOM KHA - makes 2 - 4 servings

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil

  • 1 white onion, diced

  • 4 thai bird’s eye chilies, sliced

  • 1 jalapeno, diced

  • 1” knob of ginger, peeled and slice

  • 2 stalks lemongrass, hard outer layers removed, smashed and very finely chopped

  • 4 hot house tomatoes, quartered into wedges

  • 1 Japanese eggplant, diced and salted to draw out water

  • 1 (398ml) can straw mushrooms, with liquid

  • 1 (227ml) can bamboo shoots, with liquid

  • 1 (398ml) can coconut milk

  • 1 lime, juices only

  • 1/8 cup fish sauce

  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar

  • 2 tbsp kosher salt

  • freshly ground black pepper

  • 4 cups fried tofu puffs

  • 1 bunch cilantro, ends finely chopped and leaves roughly chopped

  • 1 lime, halved and quartered

In a large colander, sprinkle the diced eggplant with kosher salt and allow for the moisture to draw out for 15 minutes while you prep the other ingredients. Rinse the salt off and moisture off and pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside.

In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil until glistening over medium-high heat. Add in the onions, garlic, peppers, chilies and lemongrass. Sauté until the onions have softened and become translucent, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the tomato wedges and eggplant and cook until some liquid begins to release from the tomatoes. Add in the mushrooms with liquid, coconut milk, bamboo shoots, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt. Bring the liquid to a boil and in the tofu puffs. Stir in the cilantro.

Turn off the heat and serve with Thai jasmine rice, additional cilantro and lime wedges.

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