THAI HOT AND SOUR SOUP WITH #FITFOODBMF

I recently teamed up with British Military Fitness as a blogger for their #FitFoodBMF recipe book. I was asked to contribute one of my favourite healthy recipes to be published and I immediately thought of this one.

I was thrilled to receive this lovely book (which you can find online here) not least because my picture had made the book cover! There are tons of delicious recipes featured in the book from some very talented food, lifestyle and fitness bloggers and the free download is a perfect way to kick-start your healthy New Year’s resolutions.

I learnt this recipe in a cooking school in Bangkok in 2013. Thai food is extremely flavoursome and this soup’s classic Thai flavours always remind me fondly of the time I spent there eating incredible street food. This is a great option for a healthy lunch with a spicy kick. Plus, I guarantee that your kitchen will smell amazing after you’ve made this!

Ingredients (serves 4):
• 2 chicken breast fillets
• 2 lemongrasses
• 1 medium sized ginger root
• 6 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
• 1 lime
• 500ml chicken stock
• 2 tomatoes
• Bunch of chopped coriander
• 4 spring onions
• 1 tablespoon Thai red chilli paste
• 4 tablespoons coconut milk
• 6 bird’s eye chillies

Method:
Start by prepping your fresh ingredients.

Chop the lemongrass into 2 inch pieces, cutting off the woody ends. Remove the skin from the ginger by scraping it off gently with metal spoon, and then cut it into coin-sized chunks. Tear the kaffir lime leaves in half. Cut the tomato into 6ths. Deseed all of your bird’s eye chillies, or if you like the heat leave the seeds in one or two of the chillies. Once that’s done, finely chop the chillies. Squeeze the juice from your lime and put that aside for later.

Put the lemongrass, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, chillies and tomatoes into a large pan, along with the chicken stock, and bring to the boil.

Once it’s at boiling point turn it down to a medium-low heat so you can continue with your prep. Here, you’ll need to chop your chicken breast into thin strips and fry it in a separate pan, in low fat oil until cooked through and light golden brown. Once this is ready, add it to the main pan along with the coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce and Thai chilli paste.

The soup will only need another 10 minutes on a medium heat before it’s ready to serve. While it’s on the hob, finely chop the spring onions and roughly chop the coriander so they’re ready to garnish the soup when you serve it.

A lot of the soup’s ingredients are just there to add flavour and will need to be taken out before serving. Some people do like to eat the cooked ginger but I prefer to pick that out, along with the lemongrass and the kaffir lime leaves, which definitely shouldn’t be eaten. Ladle the soup into bowls, top with a handful of coriander and a dash of spring onion and serve hot.