Vietnamese-style soup

This was first inspired by my discovery of vegetarian fish sauce:


My life is almost complete.

It is actually a combination of 3 different soups: bun bo hue, bun rieu, and canh chua. I couldn't decide what to make, and I like all of the flavors, so I just combined them all into one delicious amalgamation.



Tasty, tasty soup
8 c. vegetable stock (or water and boullion)
2 stalks lemongrass, cut into 2" sections and smashed a little with the spine of your chef's knife
2 green onions, coarsely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, deseeded and cut in eighths
1 c. chopped pineapple
2 tbs. unrefined cane sugar
1 tbs. ngo om
1 1/2 tsp. tamarind paste
1 1/2 tsp. salt
juice of 1 lime
sriracha to taste
2 tbs. fishless fish sauce (optional, if you can't find it)

Boil everything in a large pot for 35-40 minutes, salt to taste. It's that easy.

Towards the end, throw in some sliced tofu, or other protein, to heat it through and to flavor it before serving.

Serve over rice noodles and generously garnish with additional lime juice, cilantro, green onions, mint, shiso. Also fun, but I didn't have: shredded lettuce, banana flowers, sliced chilis, bean sprouts (if that's your thing...), or fried shallots. This would also be excellent over rice.