Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I have been trying to incorporate some of these Indian lentils in my pantry into my favorite Chinese and SE Asian recipes, and have come up with some delicious versions of some classic recipes. All have been good, but this was my favorite so far. Though this has the appearance of an Indian dish, it is definitely Thai, as soon as you bite into it!

Tonight I made a vegetarian version of hot and sour shrimp soup - Tom Yum Kung - but without the shrimp (not truly vegetarian, as it has fish sauce, a must in Thai food!). Though I didn't have an exact recipe, here is close to what I did. The potato was added simply because I had two I had to cut parts off of and use quickly (we all know the type!), and it was about one after cleaning up. And the 3/4 oz shitake was what was left in a foodsaver bag, while the small amount of crimini was left from another dish I made.

1 1/2 c channa dal
3/4 oz dried shitake, soaked in hot water (save for cooking the dal), and rinsed well to remove grit
1 large russet potato, peeled and diced in about 1/4" pieces
1 large or 2 medium stalks lemongrass, trimmed, cut into 2" pieces, and bruised
2 medium shallots, peeled and left whole
2 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
1 tb tamarind paste, soaked in warm water
1/4 c fish sauce (to taste)
juice of 1 large lime
3 whole kaffir lime leaves
3 slices galangal or ginger
2-3 tb chopped Thai peppers (to taste, of course)
3 tb palm sugar
4 large crimini, halved and sliced thin
1/4 c chopped cilantro (approx.)
nam prik pao to taste (I add at the table)

A. Pick over the dal for stones etc., then rinse several times, and drain; place in a 3-4 qt saucepan. Add enough water to the shitake soaking water to make 6 cups, and add to the dal; add the potatoes, lemongrass, shallots, and garlic, and bring to a boil, skimming any foam. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook covered for about 35 min., stirring a few times.

B. Meanwhile, "massage" the tamarind with your fingers to totally soak the paste, then press it through a fine strainer, scraping the paste off the bottom. Add 1 tb to the soup (save the rest to adjust flavor, if needed), along with the fish sauce, lime juice, lime leaves, galangal, peppers, sugar, and soaked shitake (with any tough stems removed). Bring back to a brisk simmer, and cook, uncovered, for 15 min., adding the crimini after 5 min. The dal should be tender and the potatoes should be breaking up to thicken it some - if not, mash a little, if desired. Taste for seasoning, and adjust - more fish sauce, if desired, more tamarind, if not sour enough, more sugar, if too sour, etc. Remove the lemongrass, lime leaves, and galangal, and serve, with cilantro and nam prik pao to taste.

Dave,

Dal? In a Thai soup? That's a new one on me.

It's not much of a stretch - think of the Indian, Thai, Chinese, and other influences in Malaysian cuisine. In fact, the Malaysian cuisine was what got me growing curry leaves, then cooking more Indian food.

Dave,

Yeah, I can see that.

If you wanted to make that soup really vegetarian, use Maggi sauce instead of the fish sauce.

In Nancie McDermott's Real Vegetarian Thai she suggests using a tsp. of soy sauce + 1/2-1 tsp. salt to replace 1 tb of fish sauce, as substituting 1:1 with other sauces covers up the other flavors of the dish. I have used this for friends who are strict vegetarians, and the dishes are good (but I have to have my fish sauce! LOL). Also, if you want a more natural substitute for Maggi (which has hydrolyzed vegetable protein in it), try Golden Mountain sauce. I use this, and I have seen recipes calling for one or the other, so it must be something similar.

Dave,

Hmmm. I don't buy the soy sauce substitution; that would make it much saltier than fish sauce. Chat Mingkwan uses "light soy sauce", which has more salt in it but less fermented soy (this is as opposed to Lite Soy Sauce, which is just soy sauce which has been watered down).

I have seen an actual recipe somewhere involving soy, salt, maggi, sugar and something else which is supposed to really taste like fish sauce, but I can't find it now.

I forgot to mention that the 1 tsp soy + extra salt is to replace 1 TB fish sauce (I have since put that in there). The amount of salt varies with the type of soy, but the sodium will be just about equal, depending on the amount of plain salt added. And the flavor is very good in the dishes I have tried it in, assuming you are not a fish sauce addict like I am.