Hi, my name is Jessica, and I’m addicted to Pinterest. I know lots of other ladies (and increasingly, men) out there are part of the struggle too. Haven’t heard of Pinterest? It’s a virtual pinboard that allows you to share all kinds of things you find on the internet–recipes, cute outfits, cat pictures, you name it. I would warn you away from it in the interest of your precious free time but…here are my boards. I have actually tried a number of the recipes I’ve pinned, so I decided to blog on one of my favorites to date: Thai Coconut Curry Soup.

Thai Coconut Curry Soup

The recipe I used is here (see pin here). I modified it based on some hard-to-find ingredients–for example, lemongrass required a trip to the Asian market, and did you know lime leaves cannot be sold in the state of Florida (something about a plant disease that affects citrus trees)? I also subbed some of the chicken breast with some mushrooms I had that needed to be used. Finally, the recipe calls for Thai Curry Paste, but I used Thai Chili Garlic Paste because I like the taste and I keep a bunch in the fridge. So my version may not technically have been a “curry” soup–but it sure was delicious! Recipe after the jump.

Thai Coconut Curry Soup

Ingredients
1-14 oz can premium coconut milk
1 heaping tablespoon Thai chili garlic sauce
Roots of 1 bunch of cilantro, rinsed well
1/2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
1/2 lb cremini or button mushrooms, quartered
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 carrot, shredded
1/2 stalk lemon grass, halved lengthwise, woody leaves removed (or zest of 1 lemon)
1 tablespoons fish sauce
Zest and juice of 1 lime
A small knob of frozen ginger
~4oz rice noodles
Leaves of 1 bunch of cilantro, rinsed well
2 green onions, thinly sliced
A sprinkle or two of salt or soy sauce

Directions
1. Scoop the thick coconut cream from the top of the can of coconut milk into a large stockpot set over a medium-high heat. Melt the cream, add the Thai chili sauce and stir for a few minutes until they begin to sizzle.

2. Add the cilantro roots, chicken, and mushrooms, and sauté until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the remaining coconut juice along with the chicken broth, carrot, lemon grass (or lemon zest), fish sauce and lime zest and juice. Grate the frozen ginger into the broth with a Microplane grater or standard box grater. Simmer for 20 minutes or so.

4. Add the rice noodles, gently pushing them beneath the surface of the broth. Turn off the heat and let stand until the noodles soften, about 5 minutes. Rice noodles don’t need to simmer like pasta to cook; they simply need to rehydrate in the hot liquid.

5. Stir in most of the cilantro leaves. Remove the lemon grass stalks. Taste and season with a touch more salt (or soy sauce) as needed. Ladle into large bowls and garnish with the green onions and remaining cilantro leaves.

Serves 2