Food

No Kitchen Lemongrass and Red Curry Soup with Poached Salmon

Lemongrass and red curry soup with poached salmon Image by Carly Pildis

By Carly Pildis January 7, 2021

No kitchen? No problem. This recipe only requires an electric tea kettle, a bowl, a knife or scissors, and a paper plate. This recipe comes out fragrant, spicy, and full of flavor. Since it only takes five minutes, I recommend putting the ingredients on the table and allowing kids to mix and match. You can set it up like a bootleg shabu shabu so kids can increase spice, add vegetables they like, and enjoy the fun. It’s been a hell of a week, so you deserve something easy, comforting, and delicious. Salmon was our favorite, but you could also do cooked chicken or sliced London broil. This recipe makes one bowl of soup

2 teaspoons lemongrass paste (preferably with turmeric)
2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
3 teaspoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon sambal olek or your preferred spicy condiment( I am sure sriracha or gochujang would be lovely)
A handful diced shiitake mushrooms
4 ounces salmon, sliced into 1-inch slices
¼ cup cilantro and sweet thai basil mixed
1 green onion
¼ cup bean sprouts
A lime wedge
A few strands of beet noodles]
1 ounce nest of vermicelli noodles

Place your condiments in the bottom of your bowl and stir. Layer on mushrooms. Next layer vermicelli noodles and beet noodles. Smear some additional lemongrass paste over both sides of your salmon and then slice. Place gently on top of your noodles. Turn on that electric tea kettle and pour yourself a drink. Once the water is boiling, not hot but boiling, pour the water on until salmon is just covered. Cover with Saran wrap or a paper plate or whatever you used to cut the salmon on and let steam for 5 minutes. Set a timer, it won’t be as good if overcooked. While it’s cooking, cut your cilantro, basil, and green onion. When the timer goes off remove the cover add those fresh ingredients right on top and squeeze your lime wedge. Mix up with chopsticks or a plastic for and enjoy the easiest Shabbat Shalom in history

Carly Pildis is an organizing and advocacy professional living in Washington, D.C.

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