Thai Style Hot and Sour Soup with Shrimp

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken stock
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 kaffir lime leaves
3 slices fresh or dried ginger
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 stalks lemon grass, lower 1/3 portion only, peeled, cut into 1 inch
lengths
5 hot green Thai chile peppers, optional
1/2 cup sliced straw mushrooms
8 ounces shrimps or prawns, shelled and split length wise
1/4 cup lime juice
1 teaspoon roasted chile paste
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Preparation:

Bring the stock to a boil in a sauce pot. Add the garlic, lime leaves,
ginger, fish sauce and lemon grass for 2 minutes. Then add the
mushrooms and chile peppers, if using. Simmer for 4 more minutes.

Add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp are pink, opaque and firm but
no longer than 2 minutes. When the shrimp is cooked, place the lime
juice and chile paste in a serving bowl. Pour the soup into the bowl,
stir and garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve at once.