Elisa's Cantine: Thai shrimp dumpling soup

This is a long recipe, but worth it. Anybody who likes Thai food and shrimps will fall in love with it. Every time I've done it, it's been an amazing hit, with lots of oohs and aahs from my dinner guests.

This recipe is inspired greatly by the shrimp dumpling soup in the Diva Cooking recipe book from Victoria Blashford-Snell and Jennifer Joyce. Mostly, I've changed the flavour from a Tom Yum soup to a red Thai curry soup. It's relatively easy to make if you have a food processor, but there are many steps involved. Don't be put off by some of the more exotic ingredients, you can find almost all of them in larger supermarkets. And if you have an Asian market nearby, all the better.

Step 1: The curry paste

The base of this soup and basically what gives it it's distinctive flavour is a red Thai curry paste. You can, of course, buy it at the supermarket, but I like to make my own. Believe me, you will taste the difference and there's something very satisfying about making curry from scratch.

Ingredients

3 to 6 chilies, seeded if you prefer less heat
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp paprika powder
1 tsp of ground turmeric
4 shallots
4 garlic cloves
1 inch piece of chopped ginger
4 cilantro roots (make sure you buy cilantro with the roots still attached)
2 tbsp chopped cilantro stocks
1 tsp of lime zest
2 lemongrass stems (trimmed, white parts only) or 3 tbsp of lemongrass paste
1 tsp of shrimp paste (found in Asian supermarkets, can be substituted with anchovy paste)
2 kaffir lime leaves (you can find these at Loblaws with the GDion spices)
2 tbsp of vegetable oil

Kaffir lime leaves

Lemongrass

Toast the seeds on a dry frying pan over medium heat until fragrant and ground to a powder. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor.

Before

Process until smooth. Don't worry if there are still some chunks left, mine never gets completely smooth. You can add a bit of water if it's the paste is too thick.

After

Keep in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use. The curry paste should last around 2 weeks in the fridge.

Step 2: The shrimp dumplings

What you will need to feed 4 greedy people or 6 regular people.

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves
2 inch piece of ginger root
2 shallots
2 pounds of raw shrimps, shell on (very important)
2 egg whites
2 tsp of cornstarch
4 tbsp of chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper

Peel the shrimp and set aside the shells for later. You will use them in your stock.

Place the garlic cloves, ginger and shallots in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until it forms a rough paste. Chill until needed.

Yummy shrimp purée!

Step 3: The stock, part 1

Next step is making your stock.

Ingredients

1 tbsp of vegetable oil
reserved shrimp shells
8 cups of water
2 inch ginger root, chopped
6 garlic cloves, sliced
1 handful of cilantro stalks, chopped

Heat the oil over medium heat and add the shrimps shells. Cook until shells are pink.

Add the rest of the stock ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Strain the stock into a bowl and discard the solids.

Step 4: The stock, part 2

Now that you have a flavourful liquid ready for your soup, it's time to add that wonderful paste you made earlier along with the finishing touches.

Ingredients

1 tbsp of vegetable oil
3 tbsp of Thai red curry paste
1x14oz can of coconut milk
4 lime leaves
2 tbsp of Thai fish sauce (available in Asian section of food markets)
juice of 1 lime
1 cup of fresh mushrooms, chopped (Enoki mushrooms are wonderful in this recipe, but you can use shitakes, brown shimeji, or whatever you like)
1 can of baby corn, drained and cut in half
1 handful of basil leaves, torn
1 handful of cilantro leaves, chopped

Heat the oil over medium heat in the saucepan. Add the curry paste and fry for roughly 1 minute. Add the stock from part 1 and the rest of the ingredients except the basil and cilantro. Bring back to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Now it's time to make the shrimp dumplings. Using a teaspoon and sightly moist hands, form the shrimp mixture into little balls and drop them into the simmering soup. Cook them for a few minutes until the balls float to the top.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with basil and cilantro and you're done! You won't believe how tasty it is, especially after all that hard work. I've tried many soups in Thai restaurants and this tastes just as good if not better.