Thai green chicken soup

1. step 1
2. Heat the oil in your largest pan, add the onion and fry for 3 mins to soften. Add the chicken and garlic, and cook until the chicken changes colour.
   3 minutes
3. step 2
4. Add the curry paste, coconut milk, stock, lime leaves and fish sauce, then simmer for 12 mins. Add the chopped onion tops, green beans and bamboo shoots and cook for 4-6 mins, until the beans are just tender.
   12 minutes4–6 minutes
5. step 3
6. Meanwhile, put the lime juice and basil in a narrow jug and blitz with a hand blender to make a smooth green paste. Pour into the soup with the sliced spring onion and heat through. Serve with lime wedges for a light lunch or supper or as a make-ahead starter.

Cooking notes

When scaling protein-led dishes, weigh the meat rather than counting pieces, and remember that the pan size limits how much you can sear at once.

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When you scale this recipe up or down, remember that cooking time does not scale linearly. A doubled cake takes longer, but not twice as long; a doubled soup takes roughly twice as long. The cooking-time guide gives sensible starting estimates by dish geometry.