Nigel Slater?s Thai-inspired Soup

I don’t like this time of year very much. Summer is my favourite season and, when it comes to an end, the prospect of short evenings and dark, cold days fills me with a sense of dread. I do however enjoy winter cooking and the change in the television schedule: just now there is a plethora of food TV to enjoy and I’m not fussy about what I watch, sucking it all up and moaning endlessly about the rubishness of some of it, much to Stephen’s amusement.

Last night, I settled down for a marathon of food viewing, starting with Nigel Slater and his Simple Suppers programme. Of all the shows I’m currently moaning about, this is the worst. I like Nigel Slater’s writing and enjoy his columns in the Saturday Guardian and the Observer but I find watching him on television almost unbearable. The endless repetition (which I know is more to do with the editing that the man himself) of this week’s theme (last night was ‘food that grows together, goes together’, I got it the first time and didn’t need to hear another three times), the over-stylised, Sunday-Supplement style shots of his kitchen, garden and notebook and the generally uncomfortable and at times, wooden posture makes me cringe and shout at the TV.

Still I watch and while I don’t always feel inspired by the ‘recipes’ shown (bubble and squeak and tomato sauce for pasta being just two that most people watching a cookery show will most likely know how to cook already, won’t they?), every now and again something stands out and I feel vindicated for tuning in. Last night, it was this soup. I questioned the use of turmeric in a Thai-style dish but, in fairness, this was only Thai-inspired so I was happy to overlook that and leave it out when it came to cooking it myself. We made a few other changes too: homemade fish stock in place of vegetable, some lime leaves added near the end of the cooking time and a squeeze of lime juice to lift the flavours just before serving.

And the verdict? It was good, very good in fact and something I think we’ll definitely cook again. It didn’t quite hit the hot, sour, salty, sweet notes that Thai dishes are renowned for but the original recipe was only supposed to be Thai-inspired and, I think it did a pretty good job of being just that.