Name: Soup Phak (Thai Vegetable Soup)
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 150 g dried prawns, soaked and drained; 3 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla); 8 baby corn cobs, cut into short lengths; 6 cups (1.5 litres) water; ¼ cup (60 ml) fish sauce (nam pla); 4 bird’s eye chillies; salt, to taste; 20 g (⅔ oz) coriander roots, crushed; 1 stalk lemongrass, ends trimmed and bruised; 5 white peppercorns; 10 shallots, peeled; 1 tablespoon crisp-fried shallots; 2 sprigs Thai sweet basil (bai horapa), leaves plucked; 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) chicken bones; 10 white peppercorns; 500 g sponge gourd, peeled and cut into short lengths; 1 carrot, peeled and cut into short lengths; 40 g (1⅓ oz) shallots, peeled and crushed; 150 g fresh oyster mushrooms; 2.5-cm piece dried prawn paste (gapi)

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Little Thai Cookbook

By Marshall Cavendish

Published 2014

About

Light soups such as this vegetable soup are often served in accompaniment to rich, heavy meals, as the Thais believe that they temper the heat from spicy dishes and cleanse the palate at the same time. Whatever the reason, it’s a good way to enjoy vegetables.

Ingredients

1 stalk lemongrass, ends trimmed and bruised
¼ cup (60 ml) fish sauce (nam pla)

Method

Prepare the chicken stock. Place all the ingredients in a stockpot and bring to the boil over medium heat. Lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Strain the stock and use as needed.
Prepare the spice paste. Using a mortar and pestle or blender, pound or process the ingredients into a fine paste.
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a pot. Add the spice