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A silky, aromatic coconut broth perfumed with lemongrass and galangal, chilled until refreshing and ladled over tender poached shrimp. This is summer soup as it should be: bold, cooling, and utterly transporting.
Americans have always borrowed brilliantly. We took French technique and applied it to Southern ingredients. We adopted Italian pasta and made it our own with local cheeses and garden tomatoes. And somewhere along the way, the aromatic soups of Thailand found their way into our summer kitchens, where they belong.
This soup operates on a simple principle: infuse fat with flavor, then chill it until it becomes something almost dessert-like in its silkiness. The coconut milk carries the lemongrass and galangal the way cream carries vanilla in a custard. Cold, it hits your palate differently than hot soup. The aromatics bloom slowly. The richness feels lighter. The lime cuts through with unexpected brightness.
I've served this at backyard gatherings from Portland to Austin, and it stops conversation every time. People expect cold soup to be gazpacho or vichyssoise. They don't expect coconut milk infused with Southeast Asian aromatics poured over pink shrimp. The surprise is part of the pleasure.
Make the broth a day ahead. Let those flavors marry overnight in the refrigerator. The soup improves with time, which means the hardest work happens before your guests arrive. That's the mark of intelligent summer cooking.
Quantity
1 pound
Quantity
2 cans (13.5 oz each)
Quantity
2 cups
Quantity
3
trimmed and smashed
Quantity
3-inch piece
sliced into coins
Quantity
4
torn
Quantity
2
thinly sliced
Quantity
3
smashed
Quantity
1-inch piece
sliced
Quantity
2
halved
Quantity
3 tablespoons
Quantity
2 tablespoons
Quantity
1/4 cup
about 3 limes
Quantity
1/2 cup
Quantity
1/4 cup
Quantity
2
thinly sliced
Quantity
1
thinly sliced
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large shrimp (21-25 count), shell-on | 1 pound |
| full-fat coconut milk | 2 cans (13.5 oz each) |
| low-sodium chicken stock | 2 cups |
| lemongrass stalkstrimmed and smashed | 3 |
| fresh galangalsliced into coins | 3-inch piece |
| makrut lime leavestorn | 4 |
| shallotsthinly sliced | 2 |
| garlic clovessmashed | 3 |
| fresh gingersliced | 1-inch piece |
| Thai bird chilieshalved | 2 |
| fish sauce | 3 tablespoons |
| palm sugar or light brown sugar | 2 tablespoons |
| fresh lime juiceabout 3 limes | 1/4 cup |
| fresh cilantro leaves | 1/2 cup |
| fresh Thai basil leaves | 1/4 cup |
| scallionsthinly sliced | 2 |
| red Fresno chili (optional)thinly sliced | 1 |
| kosher salt | to taste |
Trim the lemongrass by removing the tough outer layers and the dry tops, leaving about 4 inches of the pale, tender lower stalk. Smash each piece firmly with the flat side of your knife to release the oils. You should smell it immediately, bright and citrusy. Slice the galangal into thin coins. Don't bother peeling it. Tear the lime leaves to expose their fragrant veins. Smash the garlic cloves and slice the shallots and ginger. This preparation takes ten minutes and determines everything that follows.
Combine the coconut milk and chicken stock in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the smashed lemongrass, galangal coins, torn lime leaves, shallots, garlic, ginger, and halved Thai chilies. Stir gently to distribute the aromatics. Bring the liquid to a bare simmer. You want small bubbles at the edges, not a rolling boil. Coconut milk splits when boiled aggressively, and you need that silky texture intact.
Reduce heat to low and let the broth steep for 20 minutes at the gentlest simmer possible. The surface should barely tremble. Stir occasionally and press the aromatics against the side of the pot to extract maximum flavor. The kitchen will fill with an extraordinary perfume: citrus, floral, warm spice. When the broth tastes intensely aromatic, even before seasoning, you've extracted enough.
Remove the pot from heat. Add the fish sauce and palm sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely. Taste carefully. The broth should be savory, slightly sweet, and deeply aromatic. The fish sauce provides the backbone. The sugar balances the lime juice you'll add later. Add more fish sauce by the teaspoon if it tastes flat. The flavors will mellow when chilled, so season slightly more aggressively than you think necessary.
Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl or pitcher. Pour the broth through, pressing firmly on the solids to extract every drop of flavor. Discard the spent aromatics. They've given everything. Stir in the lime juice while the broth is still warm so it incorporates evenly. Cover the broth and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. The cold transforms it into something almost luxuriously smooth.
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. It should taste like the sea. Add the shell-on shrimp and immediately remove the pot from heat. Let the shrimp poach in the residual heat for 3 to 4 minutes, depending on size, until they curl into loose C-shapes and turn uniformly pink. Overcooked shrimp turn rubbery and tight. The moment they're opaque throughout, drain them.
Transfer the drained shrimp to an ice bath to stop the cooking immediately. This sets the texture and keeps them tender. After 5 minutes, drain and peel, removing the tails if you prefer a more elegant presentation. Devein if necessary. Pat the shrimp dry and refrigerate until ready to serve. They can be poached up to a day ahead.
Divide the chilled shrimp among six shallow bowls, arranging them in a single layer. Ladle the cold coconut broth over and around the shrimp. The soup should be pourable but with body, coating a spoon lightly. Scatter cilantro leaves, Thai basil, and scallions over each serving. Add sliced Fresno chili for those who want heat. Serve immediately with lime wedges on the side for guests to adjust the brightness to their taste.
1 serving (about 400g)
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