Thai Peppery Shrimp and Veggie Soup - Gaeng Liang
This healthy, herbaceous soup is loaded with veggies and juicy shrimp. In Thai culture, new moms are encouraged to eat gaeng liang because it's believed to increase milk production. Whether or not it really does, it's still a comforting delicious soup anyone can enjoy!
- Prep time
- 14 min
- Cook time
- 31 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 3 cup chicken stock or shrimp stock, unsalted, preferably homemade
- 1 recipe gaeng liang curry paste (recipe follows)
- 2-3 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 cup kabocha squash, unpeeled, bite-sized pieces
- Half an angled luffa (sing gua) or half a large zucchini
- Half a chayote squash, peeled and cut into sticks (or sub more angled luffa or zucchini)
- 150 g oyster mushrooms, or another Asian mushroom, torn into bite-sized pieces
- 6 ears baby corn, quartered (optional)
- 150 g shrimp or chicken (if using chicken, cut into cubes and marinate in a bit of fish sauce)
- 1 cup Thai lemon basil or Thai basil (see note 1)
- Jasmine rice for serving
- 11/2 tbsp dried shrimp
- 1/2 3/4 tsp white peppercorns (see note 2)
- Heaping 1/4 cup shallots, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp grachai (fingerroot), finely chopped (see note 3)
- 1-2 Thai chilies (optional, to taste)
- 1/2 tsp fermented shrimp paste (gapi)
Instructions
- 1
In a coffee grinder, grind the dried shrimp until shredded and fluffy; set aside.
- 2
In the mortar and pestle, grind white peppercorns until fine.
- 3
Add grachai and Thai chilies, and pound until fine, then add shallots and pound until fine. If at any point the mixture becomes too wet and slippery and is difficult to grind, you can add some of the shredded dried shrimp to help absorb the moisture and add friction.
- 4
Add the shrimp paste and any remaining dried shrimp and pound to mix.
- 5
In a medium pot, bring stock to a boil, then add curry paste and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- 6
Add 2 Tbsp of fish sauce, then add kabocha squash and simmer for 2 minutes.
- 7
Add all remaining vegetables and simmer for 3-4 more minutes or until the kabocha squash can be pierced easily with a fork. (Timing depends on thickness of your kabocha.)
- 8
Add shrimp or chicken and cook just until they’re done, about 30 seconds only.
- 9
Turn off the heat and stir in Thai of lemon basil.
- 10
Taste and adjust the seasoning with more fish sauce or salt as needed. If you want it to be spicier, you can add more ground white pepper at this point.
- 11
Serve with jasmine rice. I like to put a bit of rice into a bowl of kaeng liang to make a rice soup out of it!