Crab and Corn Soup with Chiles
from The Chile Pepper Book by Carolyn Dille and Susan Belsinger

This soup is excellent before or after any flavorful oriental main course, especially those with fish or chicken. If you can find live crabs to steam, the crab flavor in this soup will be more pronounced than if you use frozen crab. Steam 2 pounds of crab over plain water for about 12 minutes, then cool the crab to room temperature. Remove the meat, roe, and crab "butter," if nay. Chop the shells with a cleaver. Barely cover them with water and simmer for about 15 minutes. Strain the broth and use it to replace some of the chicken broth in the recipe. Add the roe and butter when you add the crab meat.

Note: Crab butter is the white-yellow fat inside the back of the shell of a large crab. It is considered a delicacy and is often added to dressings and sauces served with crab.

1 1/2 quarts chicken or crab broth
3 slices fresh ginger, about 7/8 inch across, peeled
1 4-inch piece fresh lemon grass, quartered lengthwise, or substitute 1 tsp. lime juice and 1 tsp. grated lime zest
2 Tbsp. Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce
2 garlic cloves, chopped coarsely
3 or 4 small fresh hot chiles such as Thai, japonés, or serrano
3 or 4 green onions, trimmed with about 3 inches of green
Kernels from 3 ears fresh corn (about 1 1/3 cups)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 pound lump crab meat, cartilage removed

Place the broth, ginger, lemon grass, fish sauce, and garlic in a non corrodible pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. [Brian and I add the corn cobs to this to add more corn flavor. Remove before adding the crab.]

Meanwhile, wearing rubber gloves, remove the stems from the chiles and slice the chiles thin on a diagonal. Slice the green onions thin on a diagonal.

Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning with a little more fish sauce if necessary. Oriental cooks usually leave the aromatics in the soup, but you may want to strain the broth before serving is you like.

Add the chiles, green onions, corn, coconut milk, and crab meat, and barely simmer about 5 minutes, or until the corn is cooked. Serve hot.

Serves 6