When you cook for someone you love...

Last week Pranav and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. We've been doing a considerable amount of culinary globetrotting lately, but I settled on a simple 3-course Thai dinner for our special evening at home. A few days later, when I was chatting with my sister-in-law about the dishes I had prepared, she asked me to post the recipe for that evening's soup and salad. Here they are!

Lemongrass Coconut Soup (serves 2)

For the Stock:

1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock

1/2 cup coconut milk ( I use a brand called "Homemade")

1 tbsp chopped ginger

1 stalk of lemongrass finely minced

1 spring onion chopped

1 star anise 

1 red chili slit down the length but otherwise left whole

salt to taste

In addition:

1/4 cup white mushroom very thinly sliced

1/4 cup carrots very thinly julienned 

1/4 cup tofu cut into small cubes

1/4 cup chopped coriander

dried chili flakes for garnish

Bring all the broth ingredients to a boil, then turn down the heat and let it all simmer for a good 20 minutes. Strain the broth and discard the flavouring ingredients. Keep the broth on simmer while you add the mushrooms, carrots, and tofu. When these are cooked (which should take no more than 3-5 minutes,) turn off the heat and add the coriander. Garnish with chili flakes if you so desire and serve hot. 

Nota bene: I cannot stress the importance of thinly slicing the vegetables. This soup is simpler than you might expect but a sure tragedy would be to serve it with mushy vegetables. The veggies should be thin enough to cook simply from the heat of the broth, yet they should retain their colour when you serve this delicious soup. 

Cucumber Salad (serves 2) 

1 large cucumber deseeded and sliced into strips (1/2 cm thin, and 5 cm long)

1 spring onion

1 red chili chopped (deseeded if you don't like your tongue on fire)

1 1/2 tbp white vinegar

1 tsp granulated sugar

salt to taste

chopped coriander for garnish

Add the spring onion, chopped chili, and granulated sugar to the vinegar. Whisk this together until the sugar and vinegar and properly combined. Pour this dressing over the cucumber strips just before serving and add salt to taste. Give it a light toss to evenly coat the cucumber and garnish with chopped coriander before serving. 

Nota bene: Whatever you do, don't dress this salad until you are absolutely ready to serve it. Cucumber tends to spring a little of its own water, so if the dressing is applied to early, the cucumber strips will be swimming in the dressing rather than being lightly coated. In addition, the flavours become more intense the longer you let the dressing sit, so it might get too spicy.