Buddhist Tamarind And Vegetable Soup

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 3
• 300 g tofu
• 1/4 cup tamarind pulp, dissolved in
• 1 cup hot water
• 150 g okra, whole or chopped into 1 inch lengths
• 5 cups water
• 3/4 cup fresh pineapple, cut into chunks
• 1 stalk leek, washed and chopped
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 medium tomatoes, washed,peeled and cut into wedges
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• salt
• 50 ml vegetable oil
• 50 g chopped shallots
• 100 g bean sprouts
• 12 leaves fresh asian basil
• 6 sprigs ngo om or 6 sprigs coriander (known as "ngo om" in vietnamese)
• 2 -6 serrano chilies, minced

Recipe

• 1 dissolve the tamarind in the water.
• 2 strain it through a fine sieve.
• 3 reserve the thick tamarind water.
• 4 discard the seeds and pulp.
• 5 boil the tamarind liquid with 5 cups of water in a large pot.
• 6 add okra, tomato wedges and pineapple.
• 7 boil vigorously for 3 minutes.
• 8 lower flame and add the leek, salt and sugar.
• 9 bring to a boil.
• 10 add the tofu cubes and soy sauce.
• 11 cook for 2 minutes.
• 12 check the seasoning.
• 13 serve in individual bowls garnished with drops of vegetable oil, shallots, bean sprouts, basil leaves, corriander and chillies.
• 14 enjoy!