Tomato Soup with Thai Basil and Garlic Chili Sauce

Garlic Pepper and Basil Tomato Soup

You don't have to wait until it's cold for tomato soup to hit the spot.   It fills you up and when your cold warms you up.  In Thailand, when you have soup, you have to have some spice to add to it.  In our household the same rule applies.  This results in my inventing lots of new fusion dishes.  This soup recipe takes off where the traditional easy home-made tomato soup finishes and adds a bit of Thai flavor.

The Foundation

Tomato Thai Soup in the Pot

The foundation for this recipe of course tomatoes.  I used two cans of pureed stewed tomatoes.  To add some Thai flavor to it I added 2 cups of reduced fat coconut milk.  I also used 1 tablespoon of garlic chili paste by Huy Fong, the original sriracha sauce makers.  I used 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and a couple sprigs of Thai basil for garnish.

I chose Thai basil because I have had so many tomato basil soups before that it only stands to reason that it would go good.  We didn't have a reduced sodium fish sauce so if you are on a reduced sodium diet, you may want to watch it on that ingredient.  The coconut milk is also not typically considered a healthy ingredient.   I went a bit low on the amount I used and used a reduced fat version.   Here's my recipe.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cans tomato puree
• 2 cups reduced fat coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon of garlic chili paste
• 2 tablespoons of reduced sodium fish sauce
• 1-2 sprigs of Thai Basil

Instructions:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil
2. Boil for 10 minutes
3. Turn down the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 more minutes
4. Serve with the basil leaves for garnish

Pairing

This recipe goes great with a grilled cheese sandwich.  Here's a quick recipe for one with Sriracha below.

Sriracha Grilled Cheese Sandwich