Lately these  days I have been feeling the need to overly indulge in spicy and sour food; could it be the fact that I have a massive baby in my belly? Maybe? But because of this, I have been making hot and sour soup like it is going out of style at my place. As I explained to my sous chef, Severine, the other night, it takes a few minutes to make and is extremely satisfying! So, Severine Hansen, if you’re reading this, I expect to hear that you’ve made a batch for your fiance!

Soup Base

• 1 1″ piece of ginger; coarsley chopped
• 1 stalk of lemongrass; coarsley chopped
• stalks from a bunch of coriander
• 6 lime leaves
• 1 lime; juiced
• 1L chicken stock
• 1 tbsp Sambal Olek
• 1/4 cup fish sauce

I sautee the lemongrass and ginger together until fragrant; then I add my coriander stalks and lime leaves. Then I add my lime juice, fish sauce, stock and sambal and let simmer for 10 minutes. Once it has simmered for 10 minutes, I strain the whole lot and put the broth back into the pot.

Making the soup base.

Soup Ingredients

• 1 dozen shrimp (I use 16/20 that are peeled, de-veined and cleaned)
• 1/2 block firm tofu; diced
• 1 tomato; coarsley chopped
• 1/4 pineapple; diced
• 12 button mushrooms; quartered
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

I bring all this to a boil and cook until the shrimp are cooked. I also season with more sambal if needed.

Depending my mood, I also  add rice noodles or rice stick noodles. If I use rice stick, I soak them for 10 minutes in warm water then add to the strained broth and cook with the rest of the ingredients. If I use rice noodles, I just add them and they only take a minute to cook!

Adding the ingredients to the base.

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1. How Do You Do, Callaloo?

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I spent some time working in the British Virgin Islands, and had the pleasure of working with a man we called “Pont”. Pont was in charge of making soups and such on Peter Island, and one of his many specialities was Callaloo soup. Once a month he would whip up a batch, and I would secretly snatch a litre or two to bring home with me to enjoy in the comfort of my home; sitting on my deck on the ocean (yes, you read correctly; I LIVED on the ocean!). A few years later while shopping at the Halifax Farmers’ Market, I came across a farmer (Hutton Family Farm) that grew callaloo, and I immediately bought some and ran home to try and re-create Pont’s spicy and silky soup. If you cannot find callaloo, you can substitute spinach or kale. FYI…I also like to douse my finished soup with some Matouk’s Hot Sauce to give me that extra ring of fire.

Callaloo Soup

• 1 onion; chopped
• 2 cloves garlic; chopped
• 1 1″ piece ginger; minced
• 1 sweet potato; peeled and diced
• 1 Scotch Bonnet pepper or 2 Jalapenos; minced
• 6 slices smoked bacon or 1 nice piece of salted pork
• 4 cups callaloo or spinach/kale; chopped with stems
• 3 cups water or chicken broth
• 2 limes; juiced
• 1 cup chopped coriander
• 2 tbsp allspice
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp coriander seed
• salt & pepper
• 2 cups okra

In a heavy bottomed pot, saute the onion with the garlic in a bit of olive oil, bacon, hot peppers and ginger. Add the sweet potato and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the spices and cook for another minute. Add the water or stock and bring to a boil. Add the chopped callaloo and okra. Cook for 15 minutes and add the lime juice, fresh coriander and season to taste. Cook until the sweet potatoes are soft and put in a blender and puree. Please be careful when blending hot liquids (instructions here). Season to taste and add more hot sauce if you can handle it!

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