Thai Mushroom Soup

I made this soup a while ago (i.e. before the heat wave) but never got around to blogging it. It is actually quite good at room temp, so it is a good summer soup. It is based on a seafood soup recipe in a cookbook I have and I had every intention of using oyster mushrooms but there were none at the store. Turns out, plain ol' white mushrooms work really well, too. I also threw in some lobster mushrooms for colour and texture, but they are totally optional. So, once the heat breaks wherever you are, give this recipe a try.

INGREDIENTS
- 2 1/2 cups veggie stock, or water
- 1" piece fresh ginger, cut into thin slices
- 3 limes leaves, sliced if fresh, crumbled if dried
- 2 stalks lemon grass, chopped
- 5 stalks cilantro
- 1 tbsp oil
- 4 shallots, chopped
- 16 oz mushrooms, chopped (white, oyster, etc., or a mix)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- green curry paste, to taste
- 1 14 oz can light coconut milk
- juice of 1/3 lime
- salt and pepper to taste

METHOD
1. Put stock, ginger, lemon grass, and lime leaves into a pot. Strip leaves from cilantro and add the stalks as well. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on a low heat for 20 mins. Strain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat, the saute shallots for 5-7 mins, until lightly browned. Add mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are just releasing their water. Add strained stock to the pot, then add soy sauce and curry paste.
3. Add coconut milk and lime juice and mix well. Season to taste. Chop cilantro leaves and mix in. You can heat this up as much as you want before serving.