Recipe 69 - Tia Kha Gal - or Vegan coconut soup with un-shrimp

Hello again!  I'm a little late - maybe?  I don't know.  I've been doing other things and running myself down in the process.. yay me.  But that's not what we're talking about today.. this is all about how you can be a vegan and eat your coconut soup with shrimp..  (not the bottom feeder like your ex, but the kind made from konjac root)  ;)

But look at it!  It's beautiful, is it not?  It tasted just as beautiful too!

So, I'm a sucker for coconut soup.  Mind you, when I wasn't vegan it was the chicken kind.  I think we've discussed already how much shrimp freaks me out.. but to make this traditionally Thai, it needed to have shrimp in it - so I thought - well, it's not the real thing, maybe I can deal?  So, that's where I started.   I couldn't find the 'Sophie's Kitchen' vegan prawns, but I found them breaded - so I had to defrost and debread them before I could do a whole lot.
While that was going, I started beating up on lemongrass and chopping galangal (ginger root) and chopping chives.. the only thing I was missing for the super traditional Thai soup - was lime leaves.. no matter though - I used lime.

I do want to say  I was a bit freaked out about how much those vegan prawns looked like shrimp.   But I took a deep breath and continued on my merry way..
When (lately this is a normal thing), there was a knock on my door!  (The night before it was the pizza man who was OBVIOUSLY at the wrong address)  this time it was the popcorn delivery girl.  (ooh did you know they did that?  You gotta adore a girl that delivers popcorn to your door!)  It was a quick 'here's your popcorn you didn't expect" and then I was back.. ready to infuse my broth and coconut milk with the galangal, onion and lemon grass.

This whole thing took about 10 minutes for the flavors to meld together..then I was to strain out those pieces and start adding my mushrooms and 'shrimp' and some curry.   This made my soup browner than I recall my coconut soup originally being, but it certainly didn't take away from the flavor.

So, into a bowl it went - here I was thinking I'd be wanting at least two bowls of the stuff - but the one bowl I had filled me up pretty quick.

Thoughts though on the 'shrimp'?  Am I a vegan shrimp lover now?
No. The soup was MAGNIFICENT, now, the shrimp.. I dunno, it still freaked me out.  The consistency was right on real shrimp.. so, the breaded prawns I had left went to the popcorn delivery girl the next day.  (So did the rest of my soup - because I thought she'd enjoy it.. said it was good, just not her cup of tea..)
So all in all I WOULD make this again.. but not with shrimp in it.. probably not with any faux meat.  I'd probably just stick with the mushrooms.

So, that moves us on to my final Thai month recipe.
It's going to have some tropical flair...
You'll have to wait - not for long, but you'll have to wait to find out.

I know you're on pins and needles. ;)


Music enjoyed while blogging:
Stammering about the cold

Current Craving:
Christmas Casserole

Current Motivation:
Trying to warm up.