Delicious Lemongrass Coconut Soup with Tea‑Smoked Salmon and Oyster Mushrooms

One of the ultimate blasts from the past is revisiting your youth — have you ever met friends you hadn’t seen in 44 years?

It’s absolutely magical, especially when you were all AFS scholarship students who spent a year together in a far‑away country. We hailed from New Zealand, Australia, the U.S. and Europe and were mostly 17 or 18 — many of us had never been away from home, let alone immersed in a completely different culture!

 

We had some unforgettable adventures around Thailand ,some carefully sanctioned, others not quite so! I may have found myself in a few “pretty naughty” rebellious situations that certainly didn’t endear me to my Thai host family.

We bonded as we navigated unfamiliar cultural and lifestyle differences. We lived in an astonishing variety of Thai homes — from modest ones near rice fields and klongs (canals you could bathe in) to grand residences in Bangkok with live‑in staff and chauffeurs.

 

I was extraordinarily lucky to be placed in the latter. I stayed with a well‑known Bangkok family: the father was an international banker, and the mother owned a luxury hotel in Hua Hin. My Thai “sister” and I essentially lived in a two‑house compound with three servants, a Great Dane guard dog and our own chauffeur , while the parents were mostly away.

My upbringing in New Zealand, where my father was secretary of the NZ Hotel Association, had an echo of hotel life, but nothing like the world I’d stepped into.

None of us really knew what we were doing at first. We had been selected in our home countries for our confidence, versatility, and communication skills — the expectation was to learn about the people, culture and philosophy of Thailand. Back in the 1940s, the American Field Service (AFS) began these exchange programs so that young people could travel, live and learn in other countries, under the belief that increased understanding would lead to more respect and less global conflict. At the time, my dream was to study journalism and become a foreign correspondent, reporting on people and ideas with an open, non‑judgemental mind.

As fate would have it, I was going to need that attitude. Within weeks of arriving came the famous 1981 coup, when tanks rolled through Bangkok streets and the military tried to seize control of the government. I didn’t yet know that my Thai uncle was very senior in government ,meaning all family affiliations were at risk. In the middle of the night, we were awakened and escorted to safety in Hua Hin, to the hotel next to the King and Queen’s summer palace. Fortunately, once the crisis passed, we returned to Bangkok,but not before briefly meeting Their Majesties during their wedding anniversary festivities. It remains one of my proudest moments in Thailand.

That Hua Hin hotel also hosted the cast of a major U.S. movie filming in the area. My English skills became a real asset in helping navigate that Hollywood‑meets‑Thai world.

One of my passions, and what ultimately became a path in textiles and culture, began during extended afternoons at the famous Jim Thompson silk stores in Bangkok. I would spend hours mesmerised watching the exquisite Thai silk. I didn’t yet know that Jim Thompson (an American OSS officer turned entrepreneur) had orchestrated the revival of Thai silk after WWII and brought it to global recognition 

My time in Thailand turned a fascination into a lifelong interest in textiles and culture.

Fast forward to 2025: we the 1981–82 AFSers — reunited on the Sunshine Coast. Over half of the original group attended. We had an absolute ball reliving stories, poring over old photos, and sharing daring tall tales. We joined a Thai cooking class at Spirit House Cooking School in Yandina and feasted on Thai cuisine at Spicers Tamarind Cooking School in Maleny. For our American friends who couldn’t travel, we FaceTimed them during key moments. It was a reunion that literally pivoted our lives,  reminding each of us of how much we’d grown and changed, yet remained connected.

Some friendships go beyond brief newsfeed updates. These people are rare and fundamentally changed me. A small‑town Kiwi girl from a country‑hotel life — I was exposed to a world far bigger and richer than I’d imagined.

Here is my version of a dish we all enjoyed and cooked together at the Sprit House Cooking School. (Serves two, or up to six if shared tapas‑style)

Ingredients

For the Tea‑Smoked Salmon

• 3 × 100 g pieces skinless salmon

• ½ cup jasmine rice

• ½ cup jasmine tea leaves (or a tea bag freshly opened)

For the Lemongrass Soup

• 500 ml coconut milk

• 250 ml chicken stock

• ⅓ cup fish sauce

• 1 tbsp light palm sugar

• 5 slices peeled galangal (can substitute ginger)

• 2 stalks lemongrass, outer layer removed, cut into bite‑sized pieces

• 2 tbsp roasted chilli paste 

• 1 punnet oyster mushrooms, trimmed and halved or sliced 

• 50 g baby spinach

• 100 ml fresh lime juice

• A handful of fresh coriander leaves, to garnish

Method

1.Tea‑smoke the salmon
Place the rice in your rice cooker, then pour in 1 cup strained jasmine tea. When the rice is nearly done, place the salmon on top so it steams in the rising smoke. (Or fry/pan‑sear the salmon if preferred.)

2.Make the soup base
In a saucepan, combine coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce, palm sugar, lemongrass, galangal and chilli paste. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, allowing the flavours to infuse.

3.Strain (optional)
Remove solids if preferred, then return the liquid to a simmer.

4.Finish the soup
Stir in oyster mushrooms, then add lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning (fish sauce or sugar) if needed.

5.Serve
Divide salmon and spinach between bowls. Ladle the hot soup over each portion, garnish with fresh coriander and serve immediately.

 

Enjoy my Friends-Tai Schaffler!