Hot and sour fish soup

     

4 kaffir lime leaves (middle vein removed, sliced)

1 stalk lemon grass, crushed

4 cloves garlic, bruised

½ large onion, chopped

3-5 birds eye chilli, optional

1 bunch coriander, chopped

300g white fish (this can be gurnard, dory or tarakihi), cut into pieces

1 medium carrot, sliced

4 large broccoli florets

4 large cauliflower florets

6 button mushrooms, quartered

8 okra, cut into 2-3 pieces per okra

1L prepared chicken or vegetable broth

½ lime, squeezed for juice

¼ tsp salt

Method:

1. Warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil and put herbs in (except coriander) to fry till fragrant.  Add chicken broth and let it simmer for 10 minutes to get the fragrance of the essential oils of the herbs into the broth.
2. Add the fish and vegetables and cook.  Let boil for 2-3 minutes until vegetables are just cooked.
3. Switch off fire, add salt and lime juice.
4. Serve and garnish with chopped coriander.

This is a great way of making hot and sour soup without using artificially flavoured soup sachets, which almost always contain a large quantity of MSG.

Serves 2