Thai Mushroom Soup

Parve, Vegan, Dairy Free
Serves 6-8

Its winter and its soup time, I like this as it makes a change from a thick soup but it still warms you up nicely.

Its also a good way of using up coriander stems and makes a good starter for an oriental style meal.

½ kilo (1lb mushrooms)
c. 20 coriander stems
2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
4 spring onions (scallions)
1 litre (just over 45 fl oz vegetable stock)
2 limes
2 chilies
1 tbsp sunflower
1 tsp sesame oil
1cm ( ½ inch )fresh ginger
Few coriander leaves for garnish

Chop the onion, garlic and ginger finely. Using a saucepan suitable for making the soup, heat the oil and fry gently for 3 minutes. Meanwhile chop the coriander stems and the white parts of the spring onions then add these to the pan with a little salt and pepper (Szechwan if possible) Cover the pan and turn the heat down.

Finely slice the mushrooms, add these to the pan along with two whole chilies (if you want it hotter split the chilies) and cook together for 4 minutes. Add the stock and the juice of the limes. Continue to simmer for about 10 minutes to allow flavours to mingle season to taste**. Serve with chopped green part of spring onion and coriander leaf.

**If you want you can make this a clear broth by passing through a sieve before adding the garnish, but don’t throw the mushroom mix away, remove the chilies and serve the mushrooms as a vegetable or hors d'oeuvre, excellent with scrambled eggs

Gluten Free Thai Style Hot & Sour Mushroom Soup / Starter