Tom Ka Goong? (Thai Coconut Milk & Shrimp Soup)

I originally posted this recipe as Tom Ka Gai back in January.  Since then we have made the choice to eat a vegetarian diet.  We started off going completely vegan, but over time have decided that eating fish and free range eggs is ok, but in moderation.  (Hey, to each his own, right?)  I have altered this recipe to better reflect our dietary choices.  I'm not exactly sure if this recipe is authentically Thai anymore, but it IS quite tasty.  In Thai, "gai" means "chicken", so we can't exactly use "gai" in the title of this recipe.  We are using shrimp, so I guess the name of the soup should be Tom Ka Goong?  I suppose you could try using some sort of imitation chicken meat substitute to make it completely vegan, but I'll leave that up to you. 

I've made this soup several times this year and have altered the original recipe to make it a LOT easier to prepare.  Again, I don't know if it's truly, authentically Thai, but it tastes very, very close to what our local Thai restaurant makes.  You'll probably have to experiment with the mixture a bit to get it just right for your tastes, but man, is this stuff good! 

This will make about 2 quarts/liters of soup:
1 pound (approximate) uncooked shrimp, shelled, de-veined and tails removed
1 teaspoon oil
1 stem lemongrass, sliced lengthwise
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cans (15 oz.) coconut milk (low fat is ok)
1/2 cup lime juice (reserve the peel from a slice or two to throw in the pot/wok)
 1 +1/2 inch piece of galangal or ginger, peeled and sliced  (Galangal is hard to find.  I can only find it in markets down in the Asian district.  Not exactly worth the drive all the way down there for a couple bucks worth, especially when you'll only use 1/4 of the package for this recipe, so regular ginger WILL work in this recipe)
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce (or 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes)
1/4 - 1/2 cup bamboo shoots
1/4 - 1/2 cup oyster mushrooms or a handful of fresh sliced white mushrooms
1/2 cup diced green onion, green part too
1 small tomato, sliced
3 tablespoons fish sauce (essential for that authentic Thai flavor)
Small bunch fresh cilantro

-Saute shrimp in oil w/sliced lemongrass until pink and done.
-Add broth, coconut milk & lime juice, heat until steaming, & just barely bubbling.  You don't have to cook this soup very long.
- Add all the other ingredients except cilantro
-Heat through.   No need to boil as the shrimp are already cooked.
-Turn off the heat, add a small handfull of chopped cilantro, stir. 
-Serve immediately
-ENJOY!

Seriously, that's it.