This Thai soup, like most European soups, begins with chicken stock. You can use canned stock if you like, because the added ingredients here are so strong that all you really need from the base is a bit of body. (Good homemade stock has better body than canned stock, of course; use it if you have it.) You can find all of these ingredients at almost any supermarket, and if you don’t have luck at yours, try an Asian market, where they are as common as carrots, celery, and onions. (And if you do go to an Asian market, pick up some rice or bean thread noodles, which require almost no cooking time and turn this dish into a meal.) You don’t need oyster mushrooms, by the way—fresh shiitakes or even white button mushrooms are just as good. All you really need to know is that lemongrass must be trimmed of its outer layers before being minced and nam pla (fish sauce) keeps forever in your pantry (and tastes much better than it smells).

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　6 cups good-quality chicken stock

　　3 lemongrass stalks

　　4 nickel-sized slices peeled fresh ginger

　　3 to 4 small fresh hot chiles, minced (optional)

　　2 tablespoons nam pla (fish sauce), or to taste

　　6 to 8 ounces roughly chopped oyster mushrooms

　　Salt (optional)

　　2 teaspoons minced lime leaves or lime zest

　　Juice of 1 lime

　　1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

　　

Step 1

Heat the stock over medium heat. Trim two of the lemongrass stalks of their toughest outer layers, then bruise them with the back of a knife; cut them into sections and add them to the stock with the ginger and about one-fourth of the minced chiles if you’re using them. Simmer for about 15 minutes, longer if you have the time. (You can prepare the recipe in advance up to this point; cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days before proceeding.) Peel all the hard layers off the remaining stalk of lemongrass and mince its tender inner core.

　　

Step 2

When you’re just about ready to eat the soup, remove the lemongrass and ginger. Add 1 tablespoon of the nam pla and the chopped mushrooms. Taste the broth and add more chiles if you like, as well as some salt if necessary. In the bottom of each of 4 warmed bowls, sprinkle a little chile if using, lime leaves or zest, lime juice, cilantro, and minced lemongrass. Ladle the soup into the bowls and add a teaspoon of nam pla to each bowl. Serve piping hot.

　　From Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times by Mark Bittman Copyright (c) 2007 by Mark Bittman Published by Broadway Books.Mark Bittman is the author of the blockbuster Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.