Spicy Hot and Sour Seafood Soup

Asian food is tasty and provides high nutrition with medicinal values and contains very small amounts of fat. Thai food is widely recognized as an ideal healthy food because it uses a lot of herbs, such as lemongrass, ginger, galangal, garlic, shallots, and hot chili. All these herbs have medicinal properties; they eliminate gas and stomach discomfort, digestive disorders, and stimulate perspiration while easing nausea and motion sickness. In some cases, hot chili, fresh or dried, will improve absorption and detoxification. This recipe is the one I love to prepare when I feel "under the weather". I do not have the fresh galangal, so I used the powder instead. This soup can be served by itself or with cooked Rice noodles or rice.

Ingredients:
Soup flavoring:
10 cups good chicken broth
2 fresh lemongrass, cut into sections and crushed
1 fresh shallot, sliced
5 garlic cloves, sliced
Fresh ginger, 2-inch lengths, sliced
1 zest of lemon
5 dry chili, crushed
2 tsp salt or more to taste
2 tsp fish sauce (optional)
1 small chopped white onion
2 tsp galangal powder

Seafood (about 6 oz each):
1 tuna fillet, 1 salmon fillet, and 1 tilapia fillet, cut into bite-size pieces
8 shrimp, shelled and deveined

Juice of one (or more) lemon
Vegetables:
½ lb. total combination of fresh mushrooms, such as shitake, button, and oyster, sliced

Garnish with fresh basil, green onions, and chopped cilantro

Directions:
In a pot, bring chicken broth to boil and add the rest of the soup flavoring.

Simmer the broth for 1 hour (I like to add one piece of kelp into the broth about 30 minutes before it is done). Drain the broth.  Return the broth to a pot and bring it back to boil. Add all the mushrooms. Season with salt and black pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes, and add all the fish. Turn the heat up to high. Add lemon juice. Add fish sauce at this point and shrimp.

 Turn the heat off when the shrimp turns pink. More fresh hot chili can be used for your own taste. Ladle soup into a serving bowl and sprinkle with fresh herbs and green onions.