There is a small but distinguished group of seafood and tomato dishes, from the Provençal soups with their croûtes and brick-red rouille to Portuguese soup-stews reeking of garlic. With those dishes as a starting point, I spent some time working on a soup of tomato and crab. After making several versions that were too thick and rich, I took the step of bringing chile and lemongrass into the proceedings to add a breath of freshness and vitality. This is a bright-tasting soup that sings with the sweet heat of chile and crustacean. To add enough substance to treat it as a main dish (when this recipe will serve 3 or 4), I introduce a last-minute addition of bean shoots or maybe some shredded, very lightly cooked snow peas.

　　

Ingredients

enough for 4 to 6

　　small green onions – 5

　　lemongrass – 3 stalks

　　olive oil – 2 tablespoons

　　a hot red chile

　　medium tomatoes – 4

　　chicken stock – 4 cups (a liter)

　　the juice of a small orange, or half a large one

　　mixed white and brown crabmeat – 1 pound (500g)

　　nam pla (Thai fish sauce) – a tablespoon

　　a lime, large and ripe

　　cilantro – a small bunch

　　

Step 1

Slice the green onions thinly, peel the outer leaves from the lemongrass, and cut the tender inner leaves into paper-thin slices. Warm the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, stir in the green onions and lemongrass, and let them soften without coloring. Seed and finely chop the chile, then add it to the pan.

　　

Step 2

Chop the tomatoes. You can peel and seed them if you wish but I really can’t see the point. Stir them into the onions and let soften for a few minutes before pouring in the chicken stock and orange juice. Stir in the crabmeat, nam pla, and a little salt, bring to a boil, then decrease the heat immediately and let simmer for four or five minutes, stirring from time to time.

　　

Step 3

Squeeze in the lime juice. Coarsely chop a good handful of cilantro leaves and stir them in. Check the seasoning and serve piping hot.

　　Tender