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Monday, October 08, 2007

OUR CULINARY GEMS: Tom Yum Goong







Tom Yum is a strong tangy soup originating from Thailand. No Thai restaurant’s menu is complete without it. The soup is usually made with prawns, sea food, fish or chicken. (‘goong is prawns and ‘ghai is chicken).

Because the soup is full of fresh herbs and spices, the potent soup has health benefits. In fact this soup is currently under scientific study for its immune-boosting qualities as a natural remedy for colds and flu. A bowl of it would certainly clear your sinuses and will warm you up inside!

A reader from Bangkok named Daryn shared her recipe of this distinctly Thai dish for you to try...




Here's the recipe...


PREPARATION TIME. 10 mins
COOKING TIME. 20 mins

INGREDIENTS.

6-10 pieces of prawns, cleaned and shelled
2-3 pieces squids, cleaned and cut to strips

4 cups of water
The juice of 6 limes
1 cup fresh button mushrooms, cut into halves
2 stalks of lemon grass, cut in small strips diagonally
1 small Galangal ginger, cut thinly
2 "kaffir" lime leafs (use lime zest if you can't get it)
10-15 prik ki nu (Bird’s eye chilis), crushed
2 medium tomatoes, quartered

2 coriander [cilantro] leafs, chopped
1 stalk spring onions, chopped
2-3 tablespoons of fish sauce, to taste

DIRECTIONS.

1. Boil 5 cups of water and add the mushrooms, lemon grass, kaffir leaves, ginger, tomatoes, chilies and lime juice. Simmer for 10min.

2. Add prawns, squid and fish sauce. Simmer until seafood is lightly cooked.

3. Garnish soup with spring onions and coriander.

4. Adjust the taste when serving. The soup should be tangy (sour and strong). It’s best to be generous with the chilies to give a real taste of Thailand.

*There is a ready-to-use Tom Yum paste on most major grocers. Just add the prawns, mushrooms and fresh spring onions.


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DO YOU HAVE A RECIPE TO SHARE?
Send it in to bisean[at]gmail[dot]com.



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18 Comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks for sharing! i will try it this weekend.

Anonymous said...

er...guys, we cant get kaffir leaves anywhere here in oslo. any alternative?

Anonymous said...

Thai restos charge for Tom Yum like it is gold! Thanks for sharing. I could try it later. But I guess I'm going to use a ready made paste. lol. cheers.

Anonymous said...

This is a nice dish for the winter. And I can't believe how Thais gobble this in hot weather! Incredible!

Anonymous said...

Can I use something else instead of coriander? Coriander makes me sick.

Anonymous said...

ooooohhhh tom yum! love it! i miss thailand now! */sigh/

Morgan H. said...

knut>>> man! you can use the zest or the rind of the lime.

freddy>>> nope, it would taste different man. just convince yourself it isn't coriander. :-)

other dudes>>> thanks for the comment!

*morgan for bisean*

Anonymous said...

By the way, I have a recipe to share. Is sauerkraut considered exotic southeast asian? lol

Anonymous said...

now dat looks appetizing!

Morgan H. said...

thais do love their tom yum. even their instant noodles are flavored tom yum. they eat chilies like m&m's!

Anonymous said...

I miss real Thai food so much that I could jump off a bridge. Sniff. I guess I should stop acting suicidal and try to cook some.

Anonymous said...

My favorite. I will always love it. HaHaHa.

Anonymous said...

Simply delicious, give it to me anytime.

Anonymous said...

Lol the tom yam in SEA and Europe tastes different! The SEA one taste better and is not so spicy the one in Europe burned my ass out. Maybe cos the shop owner wanted to test if I am a true Asian... Lol

Anonymous said...

@Friedrich sauerkraut?? Yummy! How bout blaukraut?

Anonymous said...

can anyone from manila tell me where exactly i can find galangal and bird's eye chili? i've been asking thai restos where they get it and they don't tell. thanks!

Anonymous said...

hubster...you can sub the galangal with "luyang dilaw", it's actually the same. And the Bird's Eye chili with the smallest "siling labuyo".

Anonymous said...

OMG!!! finally a recipe! haha.. I so love this dish!

Hey guys, do you also have a recipe for Pad Thai? I love that one too!

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