EASY Lemongrass Soup (25 min)

• 2 cups chicken stock Can be substituted with vegetable or seafood stock. If using unseasoned homemade stock, add a bit more seasoning and tomatoes.
• 2 cups coconut water I’ve used both fresh and bottled but, if the latter, make sure it’s pure coconut water. If using fresh, try to get a young coconut.
• 1 shallot a large one, halved and peeled (Substiute: onion, preferably red)
• 2 lemongrass cut off root ends and bash with the back of a knife to release the fragrance. No need to slice into smaller pieces- it's easier to remove a big stalk from the soup pot!Pop the root ends into water- leave at least 1 inch on the root- to grow yourself a new lemongrass!
• 1 inch ginger thinly sliced
• 3 tomatoes (Cut into 6 pieces- 4 is too chunky) Don't add too many or the soup will be too sweet. Likewise, if you use cherry tomatoes instead, you will need to increase the amount of lime juice as cherry tomatoes are sweeter than regular ones.
•  1-2 tablespoons lime juice The acidity is necessary to lift the taste as well as to balance the sweetness of the coconut water. Substitute: lemon juice
• fish sauce To taste. Can be substituted with salt or light soy sauce- the flavour will have slightly less depth but will still be tasty

Optional Ingredients To Add to the Soup

• Shrimp Can poach in the soup
• white fish fillet Can poach in the soup
• Noodles or Cooked Rice

Optional Toppings

• Tau kee (fried beancurd)
• fried dried prawns (hae bee)
• sliced red chilies
• spring onions
• Coriander