Add the mushrooms and shrimp and cook just until the shrimp turns pink.  If you are using
chicken, cook it until all the pink is gone.  It is easy to overcook shrimp and chicken so take care
at this point.  

    Remove from heat and add the tomato, Nam Prik Pao, fish sauce, lime/lemon juice and the
green onion and serve hot.  Great on a winter day!
Ingredients:

½ pound raw shrimp (may substitute
chicken or omit altogether)
6 cups water
2 cups fresh mushrooms, cleaned and
quartered
1 tomato, sliced into 8 pieces lengthwise
2 stalks lemongrass
1 tablespoon Chili Paste in Soy Bean Oil
    (Nam Prik Pao in Thai)
4 tablespoons fish sauce
5 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
1 green onion, chopped fine

Directions follow below....
    This is yet another recipe that I learned in a Thai restaurant cooking class.  It is especially
easy to make and tastes just like the good soups in my local Thai restaurants.  The secret is the
Chili Paste in Soy Bean Oil (Nam Prik Pao in Thai) and there is no substitute.  Happily, you can get
this in Asian food stores or online.  I use Maesri brand.
Lemongrass Soup with Shrimp or Chicken
Suzanne's Recipe File
the shells in the water in a soup pot until the shells turn pink then
discard the shells.

    Cut the lemongrass into 3 inch sections and crush each piece
just to expose the flavorful insides of the stalks. I try to keep the
crush stalks from fragmenting because I like to pick out the stalks
when the cooking is done.  I find the stalks too fibrous to leave in the
soup.  Add the lemongrass sections to the water and bring to a boil
and simmer it for a few minutes.