In Asian markets, curry powder made in the style of Vietnam is available. If unavailable, substitute Madras curry powder. By cutting the vegetable stock and water in half, this spicily flavorful soup may be transformed into a hearty stew. Serve with French bread and rice.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 inch piece fresh ginger root, thinly sliced
- 1 stalk lemon grass, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and diagonally sliced
- 8 mushrooms, sliced
- 1 pound fried tofu, cut into bite-size pieces
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 4 cups water
- 2 tablespoons vegetarian fish sauce (Optional)
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 makrut lime leaves
- 8 small potatoes, quartered
- 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
- 2 cups fresh bean sprouts, for garnish
- 8 sprigs fresh chopped cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Saute onion and shallots until soft and translucent. Stir in garlic, ginger, lemon grass, and curry powder. Cook for about 5 minutes, to release the flavors of the curry. Stir in green pepper, carrots, mushrooms, and tofu.
- Pour in vegetable stock and water. Season with fish sauce, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, and lime leaves. Bring to a boil, then stir in potatoes and coconut milk. When soup returns to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 40 to 60 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Garnish each bowl with a pile of bean sprouts and cilantro.
Reviews
Great curry flavor. I reduced the broth by 1/2. And skipped the additional water. I used the madras curry power. it was spicy enough without the red pepper flakes. Used Yukon gold potatoes and lite coconut milk. Also, I don’t care for fried tofu, so just added fresh cubes of extra firm at the end of the boil and let stand for a while to flavor.
This was a great recipe, although it does take some time. I could not believe it… my Asian grocery AND Target were out of mushrooms! I threw in some baby corn just to have more veggie, and added an extra dash of fish sauce. Since I can’t eat pepper seeds, I subbed out Korean red pepper powder. Very nice!
I absolutely LOVED this recipe!!! I had to omit the coconut milk & lemongrass, because the store was out of it.. but I was desperate to try the recipe, I made it anyway without it! IT WAS SO DELICIOUS!!!! The store was also out of cilantro, so I used dill as a garnish. It’s such a perfect base, and the ingredients are endless! Later on, i squeezed a lemon in it, and that was amazing too! You’ve gotta try this!!
I changed the entire recipe, practically. Didn’t use no mushrooms, lime leaves, lemon grass, bay leaves, cilantro, fish paste, bean sprouts, shallots, nor broth. I used olive oil, half the red pepper flakes, half the water, 1/3 the curry powder, half the coconut milk, and half the potatoes. I added methi, and Trader Joe’s curry sauce. It was amazing!
This recipe is great as it is. I used small Yukon Golds but not the tiny ones. That adds quite a bit more starch to the mix. I also wonder if some people might not be using canned coconut milk. It was a great dish. I served it with a salad and a fruit plate for dessert. I would use this recipe again in a minute. With tofu it was a great vegan choice.
I followed the receipe closely (all I was missing was the lime leaves and I used curry mandras) and it was way too spicy for me. I ended up adding an extra can of coconut milk to cool it down. I also found the meal to be expensive.
Very nice soup. Rich in flavor and not too hard to make, just time consuming (especially because I had just 1 tsp of curry powder left, so had to make my own). I’ll be curious how it tastes after sitting in the fridge for a few days, but for this first evening, at least, it was pretty impressive.
This is delicious. I will likely cut the amount of vegetable broth and water next time, but the flavors are wonderful. It does take some time to pull together.
I used twice the seasonings and this was excellent!
awesome! I used less water, thickened it with a little flour, and served it over rice. Both my mom and friend have asked for the recipe after trying it.
I’m surprised at all the great reviews of this recipe! But maybe my little modifications ruined it. It was okay and might be good with some tweaking. What didn’t work: far too spicy, I would halve the red pepper flakes; watery, definitely use less water, which i did after reading reviews; needs more lemongrass; and the recipe doesn’t say when to add the bay or kaffir lime leaves. I didn’t have the vietnamese curry so i used madras. I did like this recipe, but won’t make it again
Delicious vegetarian meal! Could easily use chicken instead of the tofu. I used Thai curry as I couldn’t find Vietnamese curry at our grocery store.
Easy enough recipe… First go at it, I left out some water & added a Poblano pepper to pirk it up a bit…
This is good! Used spicy curry powder and added a couple of serano peppers. Didn’t have lemon grass but tasted great!
this came out really good and super spicy.. and this is coming from 2 ppl who love spicy.. didn’t have shallots so i used green onion instead.. didn’t have lemon grass or kaffir lime leaves.. so i used most of the zest & juice of a lemon.. only had red bell pepper.. used chicken broth instead of vegetable stock and added a little more boulion as it tasted like it needed a bit more salt.. i used the fresh ginger but it tasted like it was going to be too overpowering so it only got to be in the soup for a hot second.. used soy sauce instead of fish sauce.. only had soft tofu so i couldn’t really fry it before putting it in.. but it still came out fine.. chopped up the cilantro and had it cook with the rest of the veggies.. i used the entire liquid amount but just cooked it longer to reduce it down to make it more like a stew.. i didn’t see the comment about using half.. oh well.. ty for the recipe =)
WONDERFUL! super flavorful I slurped up the broth at the end. I couldn’t find Kaffir lime leaves so I shredded just a bit of lime zest in. I did reduce the water amount by 2 cups as others suggested. I will make this again for sure!
Delicious! Didn’t use the fish sauce or kaffir lime leaves, but only because I didn’t have them handy. Used the recommended liquids, but then ladled things out to serve more of a stew. Definitely a dish where you can mix and match, although I don’t think I’ll ever make this without the lemon grass stalk.
Pretty tasty, but next time I will not be putting in the red pepper flakes, and I will probably add another can of coconut milk to make it creamier. The red pepper flakes make it extrememly spicy!
A winner Served at my wine tasting and was a big hit
I make this often for the fam. The leftovers make for great lunches. The first few times I couldn’t find kaffir leaves and lemon grass. I’ve recently found a source for both. Although the dish is great without the lemon grass and kaffir, the ingredients really add a awesome depth of flavor.
Delicious curry. Very runny so best served with rice. I even added a little flour to thicken it up a bit.