Ginger-lemon soup with chicken

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 300 g chicken breast fillet(s)
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 stalks of lemongrass
• 1 piece(s) ginger, approx. 3 cm
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 small red chili pepper(s)
• 1 can coconut milk (400 ml, unsweetened, preferably without additives)
• 800 ml chicken stock, strong
• 2 tsp curry paste (red Thai curry paste), more or less to taste
• 1 eggplant(s), approx. 300 g
• 3 spring onions
• 1 lime(s), unsprayed
• ½ bunch coriander leaves

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 35 minutes

Rinse the chicken breast fillet, pat dry, and cut into thin strips. Pour the fish sauce over it and marinate for at least 15 minutes. Clean the lemongrass, using only the bottom 10 cm. Only use the inside, and cut into approximately 3 cm long pieces. Rinse the kaffir lime leaves and cut into quarters. Peel and slice the ginger. Halve the chili pepper lengthwise, clean it, carefully remove the seeds and white core, and cut the chili pepper into half rings. Bring the coconut milk and chicken stock to a boil. Add the lemongrass, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, chili, and curry paste, and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, clean the eggplant, rinse it, and cut it into 2 cm cubes. Add it to the stock and simmer over low heat for another 15 minutes. Wash and trim the spring onions, thinly slice only the white and light green parts, and add them along with the marinated meat. Let them simmer for 10 minutes. Squeeze the juice of half a lime and add it, or a little more to taste. Thinly slice the remaining limes, rinse the cilantro, shake dry, and roughly chop the leaves. Serve the finished soup garnished with 1-2 lime slices and some cilantro. Thai cuisine tends to be quite spicy, so you can adjust the amount of curry paste and the amount and spiciness of the chili pepper to your own taste. If you can’t find organic limes, skip the slice garnish and add a little more lime juice instead. If you can’t find fresh lemongrass, you can substitute it with dried lemongrass powder (I use about 1 teaspoon per stem). If you can only get dried kaffir lime leaves, leave them whole. Personally, I think the coriander can be omitted if necessary, but some may disagree. The recipe isn’t particularly difficult, just time-consuming. But it’s worth it!