Thai Inspired: Tom Yam Vegan Fava Bean Soup

** This is part of my vegan Soup to Nuts fava bean recipe series. For a list of different recipes, check out this post about fava beans! **


My love for Asian food is not a one night stand kind of thing. It’s more of a ‘till death do us part’ relationship. The colors, the excessive use of vegetables, and the chopsticks are only a few of the things that keep this relationship nice and spicy [pun intended!].

Thai food is probably my favorite Asian type of food, and I wanted to make a vegan version of the famous Tom Yam soup, which usually has shrimp and fish sauce in it.

Don’t call the food police if I do not adhere to the authentic recipe, I know there is a lot of controversy on what exactly goes into this soup, but like I said, it’s my take on it.


Ingredients:

- 2 lemongrass stalks, cut in fours, lengthwise
- 2 cups of sliced mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon of freshly sliced ginger
- 1 onion, sliced thinly, not diced
- 1 red chili sliced in half lengthwise and emptied of the seeds.
[This makes the soup mild, if you want to be adventurous, chop it up into the soup, don’t come back to me crying]
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp oil
- 2 cups of washed, fresh fava beans
- Salt [since we are not using fish sauce]
- Coriander, fresh, shopped roughly [for garnish]
- 6 cups water

Warm up the oil in a pot, and add in the onions, chili pepper, ginger, salt, lemongrass. Stir that until the onions are halfway cooked [almost translucent], then add in the mushrooms. I usually see the mushrooms undercooked in this dish, but I love cooked mushrooms and that nutty flavor, so here I cooked them through, until brown, but cook it to your preference.

Add in the tomato paste, and the water. Allow to come to a boil, and then add in the beans.

Cook for about 10 minutes, plate, add in the garnish coriander, then serve hot!

You should remove the lemon grass stalks, but I keep them in for extra flavor, and I don’t mind the crunch. Sue me.

Enjoy!

Do you like Asian food? Why or why not?