Pranee's Thai Kitchen

KAO TOM GOONG
Rice Soup with Prawn, Ginger and Garlic Recipe
 
Servings: 2-4
Preparation: 10 minutes.
Cooking time: 15 minutes
 
Rice soup is a real comfort food for every occasion. Nothing is as satisfying as rice soup on a cold day or when one’s body needs gentle food. The meat for this dish is ground chicken or ground pork. Shrimp adds a great touch, too. For extra protein, add one egg to the boiling soup just before serving.
 
16 ounces chicken broth, vegetable broth or water
1 cup water or more as needed
1-2 cups steamed rice (left over rice is fine)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons ginger, chopped
½ cup shitake mushroom, sliced
½ cup ground chicken or pork
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
9 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup spinach, chopped
1 egg (optional)
White pepper powder as needed
1 green onion, sliced
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
 
Bring chicken broth, water and rice to boil in a medium saucepan and keep on cooking. Heat cooking oil in a pan over medium-high heat, then fry garlic and ginger until light golden. Remove half of the fried garlic and ginger to use later as a garnish. In the same pan with remaining cooking oil, garlic and ginger, stir in shitake mushroom and cook until soft. Then add ground chicken (or ground pork, if you prefer). Keep stirring until the chicken is cooked. Add chicken, mushroom and remaining garlic and ginger to the saucepan with the rice soup. 
 
Continue to cook the soup over medium heat until the texture is neither too soupy nor too thick. Stir in salt, soy sauce, shrimp and spinach. When the shrimp turn pink, add egg and stir until egg is cooked. Before serving, season with white pepper and garnish with green onion, cilantro and reserved garlic and ginger.