Thai Seafood Hot Pot

This is a delicious dinner, perfect for wintertime, that I made a few weeks ago. I got the recipe from epicurious, but made a few changes, due to preference or availability of ingredients.

I had to go to FOUR grocery stores to find all everything this dish called for and I still didn't find it all. I never found Thai Chiles, so I used half a jalapeno pepper and some of a habanero pepper, too. Of course I went overboard with the peppers and it turned out waaaaay too spicy, so I had to add some extra chicken stock, tomato juice and sugar to tone it down a bit. Although, I was still red-faced and sweating after eating a bowl of it.

I also left out the squid and added more scallops because squid grosses me out.

4 oz dried rice stick noodles
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup light coconut milk
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp fish sauce
Zest of 2 limes (about 1 tbsp)
1–2 Thai red chiles, thinly sliced
1 tbsp sugar
1 stalk lemongrass, minced
6 sprigs cilantro, plus more for garnish
2 sprigs basil, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup canned straw mushrooms
12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 large sea scallops, cut in half
1 cup frozen calamari rings, thawed
Juice of 1 lime

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Stir in noodles; remove from heat. Let stand until noodles soften, 7 to 10 minutes; drain. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook shallots, garlic and onion until soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add stock, juice from tomatoes, coconut milk, vinegar, fish sauce, lime zest, chiles, sugar and lemongrass. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add cilantro and basil; reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 10 minutes. Remove garlic, cilantro and basil from pot; add tomatoes and mushrooms. Return to a simmer. Add shrimp and scallops; cook 2 minutes. Add calamari and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Divide noodles among 4 bowls; top with broth and seafood; garnish with remaining basil and cilantro.