The are few more versatile Asian foods than the soup / dim sum dumplings available in profusion at all Asian grocery stores, and most larger supermarkets. We’ve done an easy dumpling bake. Now, let’s do a simple, sumptuous dumpling soup!
This is another really simple recipe that could have been much more complex. Except for two shortcuts millions of Asian home cooks use every day. They save your hours over making a dish like this from scratch!
Not a crime
It’s not a crime – against tradition or authenticity – to avail yourself of mod-ern pre-prepped products to streamline your cooking process.
The first is the frozen dumplings. They are available at all Asian grocery stores. And these days, they’re also available at most mainstream supermarkets – albeit in less variety. You can steam them in the traditional way – but they have ap-plications across the board, mainly in soups and even fried. We recently pre-sented a newstalgized dumpling bake!
The second shortcut is an old favourite of mine. It’s the Thai red curry paste. Use a little or a lot, according to your taste and heat tolerance. No measuring a dozen or more in-dividual components and grinding them in oil to extract and meld the flavours. And no potentially ruinous expense to buy all those separate spices. You can find a whole array of Asian coking sauces, spice blends and pastes in the Asian aisle at any large supermarket…
Classic Thai cuisine
This dish is a meal in itself – as are many Asian soups. The key ingredient is the dumplings. These come in many filling varieties. Veggie and Pork are classic. But you can also use beef, chicken or whichever type strikes your fancy.
The veggies are also classic Thai: bok choi, mushrooms and scallions. ‘Baby’ bok choi is specified. I always use the ‘baby’ kind in any Asian dish, anyway.
The flavours are simple: Thai red curry paste, lime juice and garlic. The curry paste, of course, is a melange of a dozen or more ingredients, some of which are, themselves, pre-prepped blends.
It’s also important to note two other ingredients that make this dish the real deal. I refer to the chick-en broth and the coconut milk. Nowhere in coconut milk more intensely employed than in Thai cook-ing. Its flavour contribution and – if you’re using thick, concentrated versions – its textural effect are intimately associated with Thai cuisine.
What you do
You should be able to intuit the prep process for this soup from the ingredients list. Sauté the veg-gies and garlic, add the curry paste and stir to evenly coat all the veggies. Then pour in the broth and the coconut milk, stirring to combine smoothly with the solids. Simmer for a bit, then add the dump-lings and simmer some more. Finally, add the lime juice and salt. Taste for salt at this point and ad-just if need be.
Recipe contributor Ann directs us to separate the white bottoms of the scallions from the green tops. The whites go into the pot and the greens are reserved for garnish, along with chopped or torn fresh cilantro leaves… The cilantro is a classic Thai touch…
And that’s about it!
My take
Thanks to the aforementioned ‘legal shortcuts’, this meal can come together in just 30 to 40 minutes any weeknight you fancy something fancy. As with all home-crafted Asian dishes, you get to control the heat level and the salt.
The underlying message? Don’t be intimidated by Asian recipes that seem too complex or overly spicy. When you cook them yourself, you’re totally in control!
~ Maggie J.