Lately these days I have been feeling the need to overly indulge in spicy and sour food; could it be the fact that I have a massive baby in my belly? Maybe? But because of this, I have been making hot and sour soup like it is going out of style at my place. As I explained to my sous chef, Severine, the other night, it takes a few minutes to make and is extremely satisfying! So, Severine Hansen, if you're reading this, I expect to hear that you've made a batch for your fiance!

Soup Base

1 1" piece of ginger; coarsley chopped
1 stalk of lemongrass; coarsley chopped
stalks from a bunch of coriander
6 lime leaves
1 lime; juiced
1L chicken stock
1 tbsp Sambal Olek
1/4 cup fish sauce

I sautee the lemongrass and ginger together until fragrant; then I add my coriander stalks and lime leaves. Then I add my lime juice, fish sauce, stock and sambal and let simmer for 10 minutes. Once it has simmered for 10 minutes, I strain the whole lot and put the broth back into the pot.

Soup Ingredients

1 dozen shrimp (I use 16/20 that are peeled, de-veined and cleaned)
1/2 block firm tofu; diced
1 tomato; coarsley chopped
1/4 pineapple; diced
12 button mushrooms; quartered
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

I bring all this to a boil and cook until the shrimp are cooked. I also season with more sambal if needed.

Depending my mood, I also add rice noodles or rice stick noodles. If I use rice stick, I soak them for 10 minutes in warm water then add to the strained broth and cook with the rest of the ingredients. If I use rice noodles, I just add them and they only take a minute to cook!