Thai Green Curry Soup with Shrimp | Coconut milk and green Thai curry paste make up the base for this flavorful soup, along with lemongrass, ginger and lime leaves. Fill it in with baby corn, bamboo shoots, tender shrimp and a side of rice for the perfect takeout dinner at home.
Yay, it's day 5 of September Soup Month, where I'm sharing the best in homemade soups all month long. I hope you're loving it as much as I am. The collection just keeps on getting better with the addition of this Thai Green Curry Soup with Shrimp.
So, what makes this soup so good? These specific ingredients come together in such a special way, to make this soup so delicious, so addictive, so perfectly appealing.
Let's introduce the ingredients.
- onion
- ginger - I keep mine in the freezer and Microplane it frozen
- lemongrass paste - I use paste instead of lemongrass stalks because it's easier for me to find at my grocery stores
- Thai Green Curry paste - I prefer Thai Kitchen's curry pastes, but they can be hard to find for me
- fish sauce
- Kaffir lime leaves - I find these at a store that specializes in Asian food. To me, they are absolutely necessary for this soup and nothing can replace them. Leave them out if you can't find them.
- shrimp - I use small shrimp
- chicken stock
- bamboo shoots - you'll find these canned, see the photo below
- baby corn - you'll find these canned, see the photo below
- coconut milk - I use canned coconut milk
- rice, to serve - I prefer Jasmine
- cilantro, to serve - Leave it out if you hate cilantro
To serve, make some plain Jasmine Rice, or this Coconut Jasmine Rice. This soup would also be great with noodles. I love this soup with cilantro on top and a cup of hot green tea.
Ingredients for Thai curry/coconut soup
I prefer the Thai Kitchen coconut milk and curry pastes, but I also have to use what I can find, so sometimes I have to go with other brands. These products work just fine in this soup.
How to Make Thai Green Curry Soup with Shrimp
As usual, we're going to start off with heating our favorite big soup pot over medium. Add some cooking oil and then cook the onions. If you'd rather have chicken instead of shrimp then add the chicken here. One or two chicken breasts will do. Cook it fully, along with the onions.
Now add the ginger, the lemongrass paste, the curry paste and then scoop some of the heavy cream from the top of the coconut milk can and use that to help cook the curry paste a bit.
Add the bamboo shoots, baby corn, lime leaves, stock and fish sauce. Bring everything to a boil and then turn the heat down and simmer for about 10 -15 minutes so all the flavors start blending together. (Taste it now and then at the end and you'll see what I mean)
Add the shrimp and simmer for a minute or two - it doesn't take long to cook small shrimp in hot liquid.
To serve, add some rice to a bowl and then ladle the soup over. Scatter fresh cilantro on top.
Questions About Making Thai Green Curry Soup with Shrimp
I don't like shrimp. What can I substitute?
You can leave it out, or you can add chicken, but you'll need to either add cooked chicken or cook it at the beginning of the recipe when you cook the onions.
Can I make this vegetarian?
Sure. Leave out the shrimp, use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock but the fish sauce is hard to replace. Thai cuisine blends sweet, sour, salty and bitter. The fish sauce imparts salt and umami in this dish. You could try soy sauce or coconut aminos, though I haven't personally tried it, so I don't know how it would work. Or you could try making a vegetarian fish sauce like this one from Minimalist Baker. I haven't tried that either but wanted to try to offer some options.
If you try any of the above, please leave a comment and let me know how it worked out.
In Winnipeg, there are a few Thai restaurants I've been to, but this one makes the greatest coconut soup if you're ever close by.
Thai Green Curry Soup with Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- ½ large onion (diced)
- ½ inch ginger (grated)
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemongrass paste
- 3 tablespoons Thai green curry paste (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 6 Kaffir lime leaves
- 150 grams raw shrimp (peeled and deveined)
- 1 550 ml can bamboo shoots (drained)
- 1 400 ml can baby corn (drained)
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 cans coconut milk
- rice (to serve, optional)
- cilantro (to serve, optional)
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium. Add oil, then onions. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until starting to soften.
- Add ginger, lemongrass paste, curry paste, and 2 tablespoons of the cream from the coconut milk.
- Cook for a few minutes, until the cooked through a bit and thoroughly combined.
- Add the bamboo shoots, baby corns, leaves, stock and fish sauce.
- Bring to boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the shrimp, let simmer for 2 minutes or until shrimp is pink and cooked.
- Serve immediately with rice and cilantro, if you prefer.
Notes
- I used Blue Dragon Green Curry Paste in this recipe, but I prefer the this one by Thai Kitchen. It's harder to find where I live.
- To use chicken instead of shrimp, add the chicken in with the onions in Step 1 and cook fully before moving on with the recipe.
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This soup recipe is part of my Best Homemade Soup Recipes Collection. Click below to view them all.
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Hi! I'm Jacqueline. I create the recipes here, photograph, and share them with you so you can feed your family delicious, fresh food.
I love to cook, read, sway in my hammock, take photos, and renovate my cabin. I drink coffee and red wine and I'm just as happy at my grill as I am with a whisk and mixing bowl.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!