Spicy seafood soup

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02
  
       Title: Spicy Seafood Soup
  Categories: Soups, Shrimp, Clams, Mussels
       Yield: 6 servings
  
            Stephen Ceideburg
       1 lb Medium shrimp
       1 tb Vegetable oil
       2 qt Fish stock
       3    Fresh lemon grass stalks,
            -coarsely chopped
            Grated zest from 1 lime
       6    To 8 kaffir lime leaves
      10 sl Unpeeled fresh, galangal
       2    Fresh Serrano chiles,
            -stemmed, seeded, and
            -chopped
      24 md Mussels or clams in shells
       2 tb Freshly squeezed lime juice
       2 tb Fish sauce
       3 tb Chopped fresh cilantro
       1 tb Slivered fresh red hot chile
     1/4 c  Chopped green onion
            Salt
            Thin lime slices for garnish
            Fresh lime or other citrus
            -leaves and blossoms for
            -garnish
  
   Peel and devein the shrimp; cover and refrigerate the shrimp and
   reserve the shells.
   
   Heat the oil in a soup pot or large, heavy saucepan over high heat.
   Add the shrimp shells and saute until the shells turn bright pink.
   Add the stock or diluted broth, lemon grass or zest lime zest and
   leaves, galangal or ginger, and chiles. Bring to a boil, then reduce
   heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. Strain the broth
   through a fine sieve into a clean soup pot. (At this point, the soup
   can be poured into a container and refriger- ated, uncovered, until
   cool, then tightly covered and stored for up to 3 days. Slowly reheat
   before proceeding.)
   
   Bring the strained soup to a boil over high heat. Add the mussels or
   clams, cover, and cook until the shells open, about 2 minutes. Remove
   the mussels or clams and break off and discard the top shell. Return
   the mussels or clams on the half shell to the broth. Add the shrimp
   and cook until the shrimp turn opaque, about 2 minutes. Reduce the
   heat to low, stir in the lime juice, fish sauce, cilantro, slivered
   chile, green onion, and salt to taste; simmer about 1 minute. Ladle
   into preheated soup bowls, garnish with lime slices, leaves, and
   blossoms, and serve imme- diately.
   
   Serves 6 as a soup course, or 3 or 4 as a main dish.
   
   From "James McNair's Soups" (Chronicle Books, San Francisco). Posted
   by Stephen Ceideburg
  
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