THAI LUNCH

First it was a candle lit dinner over ravioli and wine, possibly with "This is the Night" playing in the background; followed up with a night of cocktails at the exceedingly intimate Milk & Honey. This time: tropical thunder storms, lightening, and escaping into a tiny 4 table Thai restaurant, and finding comfort in the arms of a spicy tomato soup. No, these are not romantic dates I went on with boyfriend, and no, we weren't in Thailand; DC decided to go all El Nino and dump buckets on us as we ran through the streets. My friend Christie and I just have a knack for going on accidentally romantic dinners. Test runs, I suppose, for when our boyfriends make good on their promises to actually take us out. But back to the Thai food. Luckily Christie had an umbrella, which for some reason she was in charge of carrying even though she's 6 inches shorter than me. Once we were seated, the server brought out course after course after course (seven!!!) of the most delicious Thai food I've had the pleasure of eating. Maybe it was the hunger, the thunder storm, or the cockatoo howling in its cage, but the meal was unforgettable, and beyond expectation to say the least. Our two favorite dishes of the night where a bright and refreshing green papaya salad, for which we kept ordering rice to soak up the unbelievable sauce, and a beautiful spicy tomato soup, covered in a layer of cilantro. For both, the flavors were unexpected and well defined, nothing muddled or hesitant. And thank God, because it made recreating them a hell of a lot easier. So below I give you my new favorite lunch: Spicy Tomato Soup and a Not So Green Papaya Salad. Enjoy!

Thai Tomato Soup


4 cups veggie stock

2 stalks lemongrass, peeled and cut into 2 inch segments

8 kaffir lime leaves, torn (if you don't have them, some roughly chopped basil and lime zest will do)

1 Tbsp grated ginger

1 can crushed tomato

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon crushed cumin

4 Tbsp fish sauce

1/2 cup coconut milk (optional)

2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1 Tbsp red chili paste

8 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/3 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

Combine the stock, lemongrass, kaffir lime, chili sauce, cumin, fish sauce, garlic, 2 tablespoons cilantro and ginger in a soup pot over medium-low heat and cook for 10 minutes. If you don't mind the kaffir lime and lemongrass floating around, then leave them in (I did) but if you don't, feel free to strain the soup at this point. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, shrimp, and cherry tomatoes, and cook until the shrimp are just pink. Stir in the coconut milk and lime juice, and serve hot. Sprinkle on the cilantro to finish. Enjoy!

Not So Green Papaya Salad

1 1/2 tablespoons palm sugar (or brown sugar if you can't find it)

1 lime, juiced

1 large unripe papaya, shredded

2 chile peppers (I used jalapenos)

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/3 cup cilantro leaves

1 clove garlic

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon garlic chile sauce

1 tablespoon dried shrimp (I found this at my local Japanese market)

3 tablespoons peanuts, toasted

Peel the papaya, halve it, and scoop out the seeds. The flesh should be a pale orange yellow color. Grate it coarsely (you don't want it to be so fine it gets a little mushy). Set aside in a big bowl. Slice your chiles in half and scrape out the seeds (or not if you like the extra heat), then finely julienne them into small strips. If you don't want it crazy spicy, just add the chiles straight to the papaya, if you want a lot of heat, put them in a mortar and pestle. Add the cilantro leaves and tomatoes to the papaya. In the mortar and pestle (or food processor if you don't have one) place everything except for the fish sauce. Smash and grind it until a rough paste is formed and the shrimp are mostly dissolved. Add the fish sauce and blend to combine. Pour it over the papaya and mix it around to coat everything. Taste and adjust (more chile sauce? more lime? more sugar?). Enjoy!