I loved this soup! I used all 15 chilis de árbol & it was really spicy & we liked it like that. This was my 1st time using fresh lemongrass & what a great experience it was. About.com offers some great tips on choosing, storing, & preparing this herb...it's important to NOT use the woody green parts on the top 2/3s. The turnip was wonderful with Swiss chard & baby arugula.

I loved this soup! I only used half the amount of chilies and it was spiced perfectly for my taste. I also added a few extra cups of water. I used fennel instead of turnip which gave it that awesome licorice taste :).

This is extremely spicy, so next time will use less chiles. Also, 4 cups of broth is definitely not enough! I used 10 cups of broth and think I could've used even more. I bought lemongrass at Whole Foods, and it was hard as a rock. It must've been old, so I had to discard it when I served the soup. Otherwise, nice and hot for a very snowy evening!

Made this and boy is it spicy, but GREAT! I used more water because I knew it would soak up all the veggies. Great recipe.

I'm long overdue to review this soup. I think I actually made it last winter when I was feeling a little under the weather. I've read a few comments that the soup is too spicy, but for someone that likes it hot (such as myself) this soup doesn't disappoint! The broth is so rich and flavorful, and the plethora of different veggies make for a textural delight. The soup was a tad time consuming, but absolutely worth it. I can't wait to try it with glass noodles!

I had a really bad time with this soup. It came out way too spicy for my taste or my fiancee's taste. There is too much chili and just too many ingredients overall. I HATE to waste food but a lot of this got flushed. Basically this might be better as a topping for rice.

This soup rocks! Very good with noodles too!

I just made a batch, and added a little more water since my approximate amounts of all the greens, etc. overcame the pot and seemed more like hot salad. Hehehe...Lime sounds good, but I have lemons, and they clean the blood.

I've made this soup 3 times now and each time it's great! I do use the fresh lemongrass and substitute some dried peppers from my garden. I also add bean thread noodles. It's great!

Made this tonight for the first time and it is delicious. I simplied the process by using lemongrass paste (1.5tsp) and Thai chili paste(1 tsp). I also skipped the miso just because I didn't have any. Before serving I added a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a few springs of fresh cilantro. The soup was not spicy because of my changes but still absolutely delicious!

Delicious! I did make a few changes - I used 10 peppers instead of 15 and added some rice noodles. For me, 10 peppers created the perfect amount of spice.

This is delicious, but VERY SPICY. I guess fewer chiles would tame it a little, I used Japones. I also don't have a mortar/pestle, but it doesn't quite paste up in a processor, I started with that then had to crush it some more using a spoon for a paste like texture. I can see how it would be good for a cold, but it was a bit too much spice for me as is.

I used 11 chiles de arbol instead of 15 in 5 cups of water instead of 4, and I would rate it "medium high" in spiciness/heat. 9 chiles would be medium and 15 chiles would be extra spicey. It definitely cleared my sinuses from my cold. To make it more medicinal, use shitake mushrooms. I found the dried chiles de arbol in a package in the produce section of Whole Foods. Unlike my usual use of chiles, I did not remove any seeds this time. I skipped the miso and don't think it made any difference. Making the paste in a food processor was a cinch. The variety of greens/herbs in this soup is very nice. Most of the time necessary to prepare this soup is in the prep stage; cooking the soup takes little time. I know nothing about Thai food, but my understanding is this is the vegetarian version of the authentic dish, which uses chicken, fish sauce and shrimp paste (?).

I made this last weekend and love it! I did make it a little differently than the recipe instructed. I used chili paste instead of the chilis, and it probably wasn't as spicy hot as it would have been if I'd used all 15 chilis. I minced up some green onion instead of shallots to go with the chili sauce, and I used lemon peel instead of lemongrass. I also added some mung bean noodles since everyone was raving about how good the soup was with noodles. Good call! And the leftovers are delicious. Great for fall/winter.