Seafood Noodle Soup & Seafood Noodles; Thai style.

When you have the sniffles, your throat is all scratchy, the head feels heavy, the body is achy, it is cold outside...well, you want something that is comforting, something that is soothing. You definitely don't feel like cooking anything elaborate! So what do you want?? I found myself in such a predicament one evening and wanted to have soup for dinner. Soup that was flavorful, with lots of texture, spicy so that my sinuses could open up and hot and piping so that my throat could be soothed. I was remembering my good friend Arvind mallya's Manchow soup. That's what I wanted.  I took a mental inventory of my fridge and pantry and the best thing I could think of was Seafood noodle soup. I had a few veggies in the fridge that I needed to finish. I had some shrimp in the fridge which I could use. I had chicken broth in the pantry. Perfect. I set out making the soup as per Arvind Mallya's recipe and then as usual ended up experimenting by adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that and the end result was a delicious Thai style shrimp noodle soup that I ate soup style that night and the next night added some more cooked noodles, crushed peanuts and had it as Thai seafood noodles. Two delicious dishes with just one time cooking! Awesome!

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

Green beans:4-6, chopped fine
Carrot:1 medium sized, diced small
Cauliflower florets: 1 cup
Cabbage, chopped fine : 1 cupFresh baby corn: 1 cup
Onion: 1 small, chopped fine
Garlic: 2-3 small cloves, minced
Ginger: 1 inch, minced
Spring onions /scallions: 2-3, chopped fine.
Basil leaves, chopped: 2 tbsp
Cilantro leaves, chopped: 1 tbsp
Shrimp with head: 12-14, cleaned and marinated with salt, black pepper and turmeric powder.
Egg: 1, beaten in a bowl.
Chicken broth: 1 can ( you can also use vegetable broth).
Tom yum soup paste: 2 tbsp
Soy sauce: 3 tbsp
Oyster sauce: 1 tbsp
Hot sauce: 1 tbsp
Tomato ketchup: 1 tbsp
Sesame oil: 1 tbsp
Black pepper:1 tsp,freshly ground
Salt: as per taste.
Corn flour: 1 tsp, dissolved in 1/4cup water.

Rice noodles, cooked: 2 cups
Crushed roasted peanuts: 1/4 cup ( for garnishing).

Method:

Heat sesame oil in a wok upon high heat. Sauté ginger, garlic, chopped onions, white part of spring onions for a minute.

Now add the chopped green beans, baby corn, carrots, cauliflower and cabbage one after the other for a couple of minutes until slightly tender.

Add the chicken broth, Tom yum soup base, all the sauces, ketchup, salt, pepper, basil leaves and cilantro leaves. ( Reserve a little basil and cilantro leaves for garnish). Bring this to a nice boil. Taste the salt and adjust accordingly. Remember the sauces are all salty, so err on the side of caution.

Add in the shrimp and continue boiling until the shrimp turn pink ( around 3-5 mins). You don't want to overcook the shrimp. 

Add the cornflour-water mixture. Stir well.

Add the beaten egg in such a manner that it makes a stringy formation. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.

Turn off the flame.

Add cooked rice noodles to the serving bowl and ladle the hot soup on top of it. 

Garnish with spring onions, cilantro and basil leaves.

Enjoy!

To make the Thai Seafood noodles, add enough quantity of cooked rice noodles to the soup such that very little fluid is left. Mix well.

Just before serving, add crushed peanuts, chopped spring onions and cilantro.

Serve hot.

Enjoy! I am bringing these two amazing dishes to my friends at Fiesta Friday # 65.Effie @ Food Day dreaming and the ever bubbly and fun Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook are co-hosting.

Cooking made easy:

Asian cuisine is made more flavorful by the use of sesame oil. This is also true when you are stir frying vegetables on high heat. The use of iron wok and pans also makes the cuisine full of flavor.

Tip for healthy living:

Try to incorporate at least 3-4 colors into each of your meals. Each color indicates the nutrient that the specific food group is rich in and incorporating several colors ensures that you get the required daily amount of all nutrients through your diet.
References:

Food for thought:

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier. Mother Teresa.