Thai Corn Soup

I love Thai flavors but find that when I cook them at home, I end up muddling them too far with Indian flavors, and then I don't really end up with Thai food, but with some sort of weird hybrid. I came across this recipe and it had great reviews so I decided to try it. When I followed the recipe, it came out sort of bland, so I added a few extra touches of my own the second time, to spice it up.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon light olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 to 5 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into short, narrow strips

Two 15-ounce cans light coconut milk

1½ cups rice milk

One 16-ounce bag frozen corn

2 teaspoons good quality curry powder

¼ teaspoon Thai red curry paste, more or less to taste

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

½ cup minced fresh cilantro

I added:

1 green chili, diced

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of Thai red curry paste (instead of 1/4 teaspoon)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the oil in a small soup pot. Add the garlic, the white parts of the scallions, and the bell pepper. Add green chili here, if you choose. Sauté over medium-low heat until softened and golden, about 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Add the coconut milk, rice milk, corn, curry powder, the green parts of the scallions. If using the curry paste, dissolve it in a small amount of water before adding to the soup. I also added three fourths of the cilantro and the lemon juice here.

3. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Season with salt and remove from the heat.

4. Serve, passing around the cilantro for topping.

YUMMY!