Hot and Sour Chicken and Mushroom Soup

Hot and sour soups are delicious. My recipe is made with chicken, but you could also try making it with prawns, diced or minced pork, or just extra vegetables. Look out for frozen wontons and fish wontons in oriental stores or good supermarkets – the wontons make a great addition to the soup.

Serves 2

1 stick lemon grass

600ml (1 pint) hot chicken stock

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced

1–2 tsp Thai red curry paste

1 shallot, finely chopped

100g (4oz) shiitake mushrooms, sliced, or canned straw mushrooms, halved

2 tsp light muscovado sugar

2 tsp fish sauce

juice of 1 lemon

1 salad onion, thinly sliced

1 red chilli, thinly sliced

handful of fresh coriander leaves

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Step one Flatten the lemon grass with a rolling pin or meat mallet and place in a pan with the chicken stock, chicken, curry paste and shallot; bring to the boil.

Step two Add the mushrooms to the pan and simmer gently for 8–10 minutes.

Step three Stir the sugar and fish sauce into the soup and simmer for 3 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Squeeze in the lemon juice and season to taste.

Step four Ladle the soup into bowls and scatter over the salad onion, chilli and coriander. Serve immediately.

If any of my family are feeling a bit off-colour, I throw lots of shredded root ginger into the broth for a really soothing soup – especially good for coughs and colds.

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