.: evil jungle prince :.

Today I get to post in a new good category -- Laos! When I stumbled on this simple recipe for Lao hot-and-sour mushroom and tomato soup, my mouth immediately began to water. For such a basic dish, it managed to pack in many of my favorite flavors: lemongrass, kaffir lime, galangal, chili, and coriander. No doubt about it: this is a Southeast Asian soup if there ever was one. The original recipe does not call for tofu, but by adding a few tofu cubes I was able to make this into a meal.

1. First I brought half a pot of water to a boil and added a vegetable stock cube. I then began adding the fresh ingredients: 1 stalk of lemongrass cut into large pieces (lightly crushed to release the oils), 3 kaffir lime leaves, 1 knob of galangal thinly sliced, 2-3 sliced mushrooms, 5-6 sliced chili peppers (both green and red). I then added soy sauce and salt to taste.

2. After simmering the soup for a few minutes to combine the flavors, I turned off the heat and added 2 freshly sliced tomatoes and a few cubes of tofu. Once they were warm, I laddled out the soup into individual bowls and added fresh lime juice and coriander to taste.

Served with freshly cooked rice, this made for a light, fresh, zesty meal.