It’s Soup Week on Oh My Veggies!
Now, before you get all impressed, you should know that the reason this week is Soup Week is because I’ve spent the past two weeks sick and I haven’t wanted to eat much other than soup. So this is less about me being an amazing, creative food blogger and more about me being having a raging cold. But anyway, Soup Week! Yay!
My favorite local Thai restaurant serves the most delicious Thai Red Curry Soup with their lunch specials. Like most lunch special soups, there’s not much to it–broth and usually 4-5 cubes of tofu, about the same number of sliced mushrooms, and a scant teaspoon of thinly sliced scallions. But that’s okay, because the best part is the broth anyway. It’s a little bit spicy, a tiny bit sweet, and incredibly fragrant from the combination of coconut milk and red curry paste.
I’ve made a soup similar to this with summer veggies and green curry paste in the past, and I thought I could switch out the green curry with red and I’d get something pretty close to the Thai restaurant Red Curry Soup. It was really close, but the missing piece of the puzzle was a little bit of brown sugar. If you choose not to use the brown sugar, this recipe is still good, don’t get me wrong! But the sugar adds just a touch of sweetness that mimics the red curry broth in restaurant soups.
After going through all the work of making this, I realized that, other than the red curry, this is pretty similar to the Coconut Lime Tofu Soup I posted last year. (And I even mentioned the Thai restaurant in that post too.) I blame this on the fact that after staying up three nights in a row with coughing fits, I was operating in a sleep-deprived state. A sleep-deprived state that culminated in me sitting in the dark watching Ice Loves Coco with Miso while waiting for my husband to bring me a Blizzard for dinner. (What?! Miso loves Ice Loves Coco!)
Oh, and that magical touch of brown sugar that I was so proud of coming up with? Yeah, that was from the other recipe too.
But let’s not dwell on that. Let’s dwell instead on the awesomeness that is Thai Red Curry Soup.
A sweet, slightly spicy Thai-inspired soup made with mushrooms and cubed tofu.
Ingredients
- 6 c. vegetable broth
- 1-inch ginger, peeled and cut into slices
- 8 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
- 14 oz. firm tofu, cut into bite-sized cubes
- 1-13.5 oz. can lite coconut milk
- 3 tbsp. red curry paste
- 2-3 tsp. brown sugar (optional)
- sliced green onions, cilantro & basil leaves, and lime wedges for serving
Instructions
- Bring broth and ginger to a boil over high heat. Once broth has come to a boil, use a slotted spoon to remove ginger. Add mushrooms and tofu and reduce heat to medium-low; cook about 5 minutes, or until mushrooms are softened.
- Stir in coconut milk, curry paste, and brown sugar. Remove from heat and ladle into bowls; serve with green onions, cilantro, basil, and lime wedges.
Notes
You can use just about any vegetables in this soup--sweet potatoes, winter or summer squash, green beans, etc. Whatever is in season! Just adjust the cooking time accordingly. Winter squash and potatoes take a longer time to cook, while greens need less time. Rice noodles are a great addition to this soup too.
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Looks nice! I like thai curries, I just wish sometimes that they were thicker in consistency.
Well, this is a soup so it’s supposed to be thin.
This is a bowl of warmth and comfort! I would love some too.
Have you heard of Tom Kha Gai? It’s pretty similar to this soup — and wicked tasty! I totally recommend it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_kha_kai
Yes! I love Tom Kha Gai! It’s been ages since I had it…
(obviously, substituting chicken/chicken broth with veggie broth and some good firm tofu!)
what a delicious thai soup! i love red curry, it’s so comforting and warming. i hope you feel better soon. yay for soup week!
Thank you! I think this is the worst cold I’ve had in years. It just keeps lingering & lingering. I guess I need more soup.
My sister in law (a vegan) was just talking about something like this, so I am going to forward it to her. Curry gives me heartburn something awful, though
I never, ever had heartburn and then I had my first bout of it a few months ago. Terrible! I don’t blame you for avoiding curry AT ALL. :/
my hubby would be so into this!!
Well that is just gorgeous! I’m thinking lunch…
I love red thai paste…and green thai paste too. Yummy soup!
Yum-o! Thai soup is a favorite of mine, especially when I am sick, but I usually order it from the local Thai restaurant. I would love to do more Thai ( and Asian in general) cooking this year, so definitely putting this on my list to make. Your polenta veggie bake is on my meal plan this week too-double yum
Where is the receipe for the polenta veggie bake you mentioned??
It’s here: http://ohmyveggies.com/what-i-ate-this-week-veggie-loaded-polenta-bake/
Yes, I want to do more Asian cooking too! I don’t know why it intimidates me so much. But this soup is easy peasy.
I hope you like the polenta bake!
What a beautiful blog! So happy to have discovered you.
Thank you!
Yum! There is an authentic Chinese dine-in restaurant in Charleston (on Daniel Island) called Dragon Palace and they have *the best* hot and sour soup that I love eating it when I’m sick!!!!
Nothing clears out your sinuses like a little spiciness, right?!
I have all these ingredients in my fridge. Can’t wait to try it! We love Thai cuisine.
Wowee, that looks amazing! Tomorrow i already promised to make ‘thé Ratatouille’ but the day after, i sure would love to try you soup!
I hope you like it!
A spicy soup like this is just the kind of thing I reach for when I’m feeling sick too. Hope you are on the mend soon!
Red curry soup is my favorite and I absolutely love your version of it! Looking forward to more soups!
Looks fabulous! I need to embrace red curry so I can enjoy soup like this
Yay for soup week! This is definitely a must-try in my book since I’m completely obsessed with thai curry!
I love curry anything! And there are those glorious mushrooms again. I am going to make a big batch and eat it for lunch all week.
I had it for lunch a few days too–it makes big servings!
I always think of Asian style broths being very complicated and requiring lots of ingredients, but this recipe actually sounds pretty simple! And I’m used to adding brown sugar (or palm sugar) to Thai peanut sauces, so I bet it adds the perfect touch here too!
Yum! I really need to experiment more with red curry paste… This looks like a really good intro recipe for me
It is really easy to work with! And soups are especially forgiving.
Hope you’re feeling better by now! I’m behind in going through my inbox so just seeing this recipe and YUMMY! I love coconut and curry soups. I make a similar one with snow peas.
I love snow peas! I keep trying to grow them in my garden, but no luck.
YUM! This looks so good, and simple too, I know it will please the meat eaters in my family! Thanks for posting! I also blog about the vegetarian lifestyle, specifically high protein and energy boosting nutritional habits if you are interested: http://theliverlyvegetarian.blogspot.com.
Thanks for all the great ideas and for promoting a healthy lifestyle!
Thanks for your comment–I’ll check out your blog!
I love soup in the winter time.
The recipe sounds lovely! May I ask where you got the adorable bowls?!
I got them from Crate & Barrel last year. They were on clearance at the time, so I suspect that they’re probably not available anymore…