Tom Yum Soup
A fragrant Thai soup balancing sour, salty, spicy, and sweet, built on a broth of lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime, finished with prawns cooked gently in residual heat.
Ingredients
- 200 g prawns or tiger prawn tails
- 2 lemongrass
- 10 kaffir lime leaves
- chilies to taste
- 2 dl coconut cream omit if you make the clear soup
- 50 g galangal root or radish
- 2 tomatos
- 2 button mushrooms
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 dl lime juice
- 2 tablespoons cane sugar
- 5 dl water
- fresh coriander for garnish
Instructions
- Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan. Meanwhile, chop the mushrooms and bring to the boil.
- Chop the tomatoes and slice the galangal. Chop the lemongrass a little smaller to fit into the pot. With the blade of a knife, smash the garlic and use with the peel on.
- Put the rest of the ingredients, except the prawns, into the pan and bring to a good boil for five minutes. Check the taste.
- Pour in the frozen prawns and put the Tom Yum soup on the table under the lid to rest for a while. The prawns will cook quickly and cool the soup down to an edible consistency.
- Garnish the finished Tom Yum with torn coriander.
Notes
- Bruise or smash the lemongrass and galangal before adding them to release more of their fragrance into the broth.
- Taste as the broth simmers and adjust lime, fish sauce, or sugar to balance sour, salty, and sweet.
- Take the pot off the heat before adding the prawns — the residual heat cooks them gently without turning them rubbery.
- Add coconut cream for the creamy Nam Khon style, or leave it out for the clear Goong version.
- Tear the coriander by hand rather than chopping it for a more rustic garnish.
Nutrition
Calories: 276kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 14gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 781mgPotassium: 581mgFiber: 2gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 566IUVitamin C: 18mgCalcium: 59mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Go!