Geang Phet Thalei (Red Curry Seafood Soup)

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I wasn't sure what to call this so I names it Geang Phet Thalei, which is spicy seafood soup in Lao, or literally geang "soup", phet "spicy", thalei "sea". Sounds legit right? Let's roll with it. This is one of the quickest, yummiest Whole30 lunches I threw together so far. The beauty is that it has 3/4 can of coconut milk so I didn't even have to add a plated fat. If I had more/different vegetables I would have thrown them in. I don't really consider mushrooms a vegetable but, let's just go with that also. They are really good though. A creamy pumpkin would be so yummy in this though. I ate this whole recipe like a soup. By myself. I suppose it's two servings if you serve it with rice, cauliflower rice. with a sweet potato. But nope. I. Ate. It. All.

You can use other proteins that I listed below, just adjust the amount. You don't need a pound of chicken or steak for one person. Mussels have heavy shells that weigh a lot. I love curry dishes like this, it's so easy to adapt them to whatever ingredients you have on hand and it's quick to throw together. I make them often on the fly, there's really no need for a recipe. I hope you'll try this one and then adapt to your preferences!

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Geang Phet Thalei 

One to two servings.

3/4 can coconut milk

1 inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced or grated/minced

3 inch piece of lemon grass (optional)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 to 1.5 tablespoons red curry paste

1 pound mussels cleaned*

1 to 1.5 cups mushrooms, but bite size (Oyster, button, Portabello, King Oyster etc)**

Fish sauce to taste

Lime juice to taste

1/2 cup loosely packed holy basil leaves

3 kaffir lime leaves, sliced thin

1. Heat coconut milk and add ginger, garlic, lemon grass, and red curry paste on medium high heat until fragrant.
2. Stir in mushrooms and mussels, turn heat down to medium. (If using other vegetables and protein adjust for cooking times, ie add sweet potatoes first and let them cook part way before adding shrimp which cooks fast).
3. Cover and cook until mussels are cooked.
4. Season to taste with lime juice and fish sauce. If you need more broth add water or stock.
5. Stir in basil leaves and kaffir lime leaves.

*Other seafood can be used, chunks of fish, shrimp, scallops, etc. Non seafood protein can be used also beef, pork, chicken, tofu (though not Whole30 compliant). You need less than a pound of these other proteins because mussels are mostly heavy shells. 

*Other great veggies are bell peppers, bamboo shoots, onion, zucchini, cubed sweet potato, cubed winter squash. Just adjust cooking times for the heartier vegetables.

If you can't find Kaffir lime leaves, omit them and add a little more lime juice. It won't be the same but it give it a good flavor.

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