I have been missing and craving some coconut and lemongrass soup. When I worked at the Blockbuster in Blue Bell, PA, there was a little Thai restaurant named Thai Orchid. Here’s there menu.

https://thaiorchidbluebell.com/lunch-menu.html

They had the best soups ever. I think it was pretty much all I ever ordered besides their heavenly curry. I remember both their Tom Yum and their Tom Kah soups. I made my own version of both recipes kind of mashed together. It brought back some wonderful memories.  Not only was that my favorite job of all time, but I also worked with people that absolutely loved good food.

What do I need?

• 1 block of firm or extra firm tofu; pressed
• 1 cup of carrots cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 lemongrass
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 green onions
• 1/4-1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper depending on your heat tolerance and preference
• 1 can of bean sprouts; drained
• 1 lime cut into wedges to squeeze over finished soup
• 1 cup of mushrooms (I roast mine first but you don’t have to)
• 1/2-1 onion
• 2 cans of coconut milk (don’t use that light shit)
• 3 cups of veggie stock
• 2 Tbsp of soy sauce or liquid aminos
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• zest of one lemon
• 1 tsp sugar

How do I make it?

• Sauté onion, garlic, and chopped mushrooms for 2-3 minutes

• add carrots, lemongrass, soy sauce, lemon zest, ginger. cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, veggie stock, and coconut milk

• boil for 15-20 minutes
• add bean sprouts and tofu and boil for another 5 minutes to heat them through.

• serve with lime wedge

I was almost in tears when I sat down to eat this soup. It tasted just like I wanted it to and pictured it in my head. It has been the best soup I have made to this day and it will definitely be hard to top this one.

Send me some recipe ideas for next time. Just remember, anything you can make I can probably make vegan!