"There are loads of variations of this classic Thai soup," says Andy Oliver, who worked at Bangkok's Nahm before setting up Som Saa. "This is the kind you might find down south by the beach. Use whatever mix of seafood takes your fancy."
Make Andy Oliver's hot and sour seafood soup
Som Saa's Andy Oliver shares his recipe for a Thai classic – hot and sour soup, this time with mixed seafood
Serves 4
Preparation time 30 mins
Cooking time 15 mins
Ingredients
- 500ml plain chicken stock
- 500ml water
- 1 tsp of sea salt
- 1 tsp of caster sugar
- 10 peeled Thai shallots
- 5 coriander roots, or if unavailable, a small handful of coriander stems
- 8 sticks lemongrass, cut into 3-inch lengths
- 2 thumb-sized pieces of galangal, cut into 1-inch wide slices
- 5-15 green or red bird's eye chillies (depending on how hot you like it!)
- 16 cherry tomatoes
- 10 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves
- 4-5 tbsp fish sauce
- Juice of 2 limes
- A handful of picked coriander leaves
The seafood mix – 500-600g of:
- Any firm white fish fillet, sliced into bite-sized pieces
- Raw prawns – de-shelled but with head and tail left on
- Cleaned squid or cuttlefish, sliced into bite-sized pieces
- Cleaned mussels or clams
Method
- Bring the water and stock to the boil and season with the salt and sugar.
- Using a pestle and mortar, bruise (but don't completely pulverise) the shallots, coriander roots, lemongrass, and galangal and add them to the pan to simmer for 2-3 mins.
- Now bruise the bird’s eye chillies, lightly squash the cherry tomatoes and slightly tear the kaffir lime leaves. Add all these to the soup too. Simmer for 3 more mins.
- Next add the fish sauce, followed by the mixed seafood. Simmer for 2 mins then turn off the heat.
- Check the seafood is cooked (you can take a piece out and cut it in half if you are unsure), then add the lime juice and taste to adjust – it should taste hot, sour and slightly seasoned / salty.
- Finish by scattering with coriander leaves.
somsaa.com. This recipe was developed specially to pair with Singha beer. Follow the brand on Twitter and Facebook.
