There are many ways to use shrimp in home cooking. One of the best is to make this absolutely killer shrimp soup from scratch.
Why not make your very own Shrimp Stock for this recipe? Or maybe make a Seafood Chowder instead?
Shrimp Soup
Shrimp aren’t often reserved for soup recipes because they’re usually barbequed, pan-fried, or turned into something Cajun-inspired.
However, thanks to the intense flavors present within every shrimp shell and the ability of shrimp to absorb other flavors in a liquid, they actually make a really great main ingredient in a soup.
While you could certainly make it very simple, this recipe uses ramen noodles, ginger, and mushrooms to make a slightly more Asian-inspired soup packed with ginger’s rich, nourishing spice, which balances the tenderness of perfectly cooked shrimp.
Shrimp Soup Ingredients
Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts so that you know exactly what to buy for this recipe.
• Chicken broth
• Shrimp stock
• Ramen noodles
• Shrimp (fresh or frozen, with shells removed)
• Ginger
• Mushrooms
• Green onions
• Salt & pepper
How To Make Shrimp Soup
• In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the chicken broth, shrimp stock, ramen noodles, and washed shrimp
• Bring to a light simmer and add the mushrooms, ginger, and green onions
• Simmer lightly for 5 minutes, and then adjust the seasonings to taste
• Garnish with fresh parsley and serve
How To Avoid Accidentally Over Cooking Your Shrimp
If there is one weakness and major difficulty of cooking shrimp at home, it is the shrimp’s ability to become overcooked very quickly.
This can be a real challenge for those not used to the speed at which shrimp overcooks, mainly because, in this recipe, the shrimp remains in its cooking liquid all the way until you serve.
When you pan-fry or barbeque shrimp, while it is still really easy to accidentally end up with chewy and disgusting shrimp, you can at least remove it from the heat and stop it cooking almost immediately by taking it away from the heat source.
However, when it is in a soup, you can’t precisely fish out every piece of shrimp if you notice it overcooking, nor can you quickly cool down the soup to stop it from scorching your shrimp.
Instead, you just have to be really confident and aware of the speed at which your shrimp is cooking.
While the recipe says it should take around 5 minutes to cook, use your eyes to be sure.
When you stop cooking, the shrimp should just start to turn pink all the way through. If you let it get cooked entirely and then turn the heat off and begin to serve, the shrimp will be hugely overcooked by the time you start actually eating it.
Err on the side of caution, and stop when the shrimp is around 90% done, and your soup should be perfect.
Do You Have To Use Ramen Noodles For This Recipe?
This recipe calls for using ramen noodles as the carb source in this soup, providing both the bite and the majority of the calories.
However, the choice of ramen noodles is really just to give this soup more of an Asian Pho shop-style appearance and texture.
For those who detest ramen noodles, whether made of wheat or rice, you can easily substitute some other kind of carb.
Serve this over rice, for example, and you will get a toothsome, hearty, and filling meal. You could also serve it over pasta—if you go down the pasta route, make sure you use those tiny pieces of pasta, sometimes called ditalini, rather than larger-shaped pasta like penne.
Large shapes won’t really hold onto the liquid in this recipe, as it is definitely a soup rather than a sauce.
Or, if you are trying to cut down on calories, remove the noodles or any carbs whatsoever! By removing any carbohydrates, this meal becomes keto-friendly and is really just a nourishing, hearty, and satisfying shrimp snack.
Just make sure you eat something else during the day, despite how full you might feel; even though eating lots of shrimp feels like a big meal, they are surprisingly low in calories.
Looking for more delicious Soup recipes? Try these out:
Happy Cooking
Love,
Karlynn
Shrimp Soup
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups shrimp stock
- 200 grams ramen noodles (uncooked)
- 2 ½ cups shrimp (fresh or frozen (thawed) shells removed)
- 1 teaspoon ginger (fresh grated if available)
- 1/2 cup mushrooms (Fresh thin sliced)
- 2 Tablespoons green onions (sliced)
- 1/8 tsp salt to taste
- 1/8 tsp pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine chicken broth, shrimp stock, ramen noodles and washed shrimp.
- Bring to a light simmer and add the mushrooms, ginger and green onion.
- Simmer lightly for 5-6 minutes. Adjust the seasonings to taste.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.
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