Tom Yum Soup with Crab Dumplings
The former Golden Door Health Retreat was known for its healthy cuisine, and one of the guest favorites was Tom Yum Soup with Crab Dumplings – a beautiful, clear but rich broth style soup, warming during cool months but also refreshing in Summer with its vibrant flavors. The crab can be substituted with more readily available shrimp or prawns if you prefer, or frozen dumplings of your favorite flavor. Lemongrass has such a beautiful aroma, and so many uses in both cooking and skin and body care, it is grown onsite at the Retreat, which is now known as the Elysia Wellness Retreat.
Ingredients
Tom Yum Soup
- 12 cups water
- 2 whole corn cobs
- 1 half yellow or white onion
- 1 half lemon
- 4 large tomatoes - quartered
- 2 stalks lemongrass - tender inner part only, roughly chopped (use outer layers in stock if desired) -- reserve a bit of the chopped stalk for the dumplings, below
- 1 chunk galangal or ginger root - about 2 inches - roughly chopped
- 2 cloves roasted garlic
- 10 kaffir lime leaves - shredded
- 6 cilantro roots and stems - roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons red chilli - chopped
- 2 teaspoons coconut nectar
- 3 tablespoons tamari
- 1 tablespoon yellow curry paste
- 1 teaspoon tamarind paste
TOPPINGS
- 4 whole shiitake mushrooms - sliced
- 1 handful cilantro leaves - torn, to garnish
DUMPLINGS
- 5 ounces crab meat - fresh, or, raw prawns or shrimp, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili - chopped
- 1 whole lime - zested (reserve juice for another use)
- 1 handful cilantro stems and leaves - finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon lemongrass stalks - finely chopped from the white stalks, only
- 1/4 teaspoon galangal or ginger root - finely chopped
- 12 rice paper or dumpling wrappers - square or round
Instructions
- To create your base stock, place the water, corn, onion, lemon, tomatoes in a stockpot or large saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 40 minutes.
- In a blender, combine lemongrass, galangal, garlic, kaffir lime leaves and coriander roots. Add to stock.
- Add the remaining soup ingredients to the stockpot and simmer for at least 20 minutes, covered.
- While soup is simmering, place all dumpling ingredients (except rice paper wrappers) in a large bowl and combine well.
- Lay the wrappers on a cutting board or clean surface and place 1 teaspoon of the mix onto the centre of each wrapper. If using square wrappers fold over to form a triangle, then press edges firmly together to form a parcel. If using round wrappers, fold over to form a semi-circle, then press edges firmly together to form a parcel. Continue until all ingredients are used.
- Place dumplings into the hot soup for approximately 5 minutes.
- To serve, remove the corn, onion and lemon from the pot and add finely sliced shiitake mushrooms. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Spa Index Kitchen Notes
Nutrition
The Elysia Wellness Retreat is located in the beautiful landscape of the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. The Spa Retreats offer a holistic blend of exercise, nutritious cuisine, health education, relaxation and spa indulgence to allow you to discover new sources of energy and vitality.
Admit I knew I wasn’t going to make the crab dumplings, even though I love them. I made this once with Shrimp Shu mai (frozen) and another time with mini chicken cilantro wontons and both were excellent. One day I’ll actually make the crab dumplings, but probably not before my Nana is here to supervise. :)
Supervising Nan’s is always an excellent plan!