Sour Lemongrass Beef Soup (Khmer)
Asian Cuisine Beef Dinner featured Food Khmer Cuisine Lunch Rice Sour Soup South East AsiaServe with
- 5 cups cooked brown rice
Serving size: 2 cups soup, 1 cup cooked brown rice
Ingredients/Shopping list
- ¼ pound cow stomach / beef
- 3 stalks lemongrass, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 tablespoons galangal, finely chopped
- 5 lime leaves, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 cloves garlic
- 12 ounces boneless top sirloin or top round, sliced thinly, all fat removed (select grade)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 4 cups water
- 10 small Asian eggplants, halved (20 halves or quarters if from larger eggplants)
- ½ pound cello mushrooms, sliced into thirds, then halved, then ⅓inch slices with the grain of the mushroom
- 2 teaspoons tamarind soup base (Dragonfly brand)
- 3 jalapeno peppers, sliced
- 1 cup holy basil leaves (mareh prew), separated from the stems OR fried curry leaves
- Boil the cow stomach about 20-30 minutes. While the stomach is boiling, grind the lemongrass, turmeric, galangal, lime leaves, salt and whole garlic cloves in a grinder or blender or with a mortar and pestle to make a fine paste.
- When the stomach is cooked, slice it thinly (about ¼ inch slices) so that the folds fan out along the base.
- Heat the oil in a wok and add the sliced meat, sliced stomach, paste, and fish sauce. Cook for about 5 minutes to brown the beef and release the aroma of the paste. Add the water and cook about 1 hour, until the meat and stomach are very tender.
- While the base is boiling, wash and prepare the eggplant, mushrooms, jalapeno peppers, and holy basil leaves.
- After the base has boiled for 1 hour, add the mushrooms, and cook for 10 minutes. Add the tamarind base, eggplants, and sliced peppers, and cook 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the holy basil or fried curry leaves.
- Reduced sodium (less salt, no MSG, less fish sauce)
- Reduced saturated fat and cholesterol (less beef, lean beef instead of higher-fat cut)
- Increased fiber/reduced simple carbohydrate (brown rice instead of white rice)