This soup is probably one of the most beloved Thai dishes abroad. And in Thailand itself, the dish enjoys great popularity, both among locals and tourists. The dish impresses with its complex aromas and yet simple preparation.
Tom Yum is a sour and spicy soup that comes from central Thailand. The best versions of the dish can also be found right there, namely in Bangkok and Ayutthaya. Usually, shrimp is used for protein, but you can use any other seafood or meat.
As with so many other dishes in Thai cuisine, I am won over by the complex taste and low-calorie content. The intense flavors come from the herbs, particularly lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. Accordingly, this dish is excellent for a healthy lifestyle. There are two main versions. The version in the picture above (Tom Yum Goong Nam Khon) and the clear version (Tom Yum Goong Nam Sai, which does not use evaporated milk and chili paste.
Ingredients:
2 liters of water
4 sprigs of lemongrass
5cm galangal root
10 kaffir lime leaves
1o Thai Chillies
5 cloves of garlic
½ kilo shrimp
300 grams of oyster mushrooms
2 Roma tomatoes
2 white onions (medium)
2 teaspoons sugar
8 - 12 tablespoons fish sauce (depending on taste)
8 - 12 tablespoons lime juice (10 - 15 limes)
handful of coriander
Creamy tom yum version
3 tablespoons canned Thai chili paste (nam prik pao น้ำพริกเผา)
10 tablespoons evaporated milk
During the cooking process, you can adjust the amount of individual ingredients to taste, for example by adding more fish sauce for saltiness or lime juice for sourness.
Step-by-step instructions:
First, put about 2 liters of water in a larger saucepan.
While the water is heating up, it makes sense to squeeze the limes. While this isn't the first step in this recipe, it's worth squeezing the limes beforehand so you don't have to pressure-press all the limes later. Use about 10 limes and cut them in half.
Take your lemongrass and remove the outermost layer. Likewise, cut off the upper, green parts. Pounding the stems with a heavy object is useful to release flavors. Then cut the stalks diagonally into strips about 1 to 2 cm thick.
Take a thumb-sized piece of galangal and cut it into strips.
Now gently break up about 10 kaffir lime leaves. No reason to fine-cut them. A little tearing is enough to release the aromas.
Now peel 5 cloves of garlic
In this recipe, I use about 10 Thai chilies, but you can choose how many you want to use. First, remove the green stalks and cut the chili in half. Alternatively, you can also crush the chili. If you want the aroma of the chilies without excessive heat, you can remove the seeds.
Now add lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, garlic and chilies to the boiling water. You can also put a lid on it to bring the temperature up even faster and release the flavors.
Now prepare the protein of your choice. Usually, shrimp is used for tom yam, but you can also use meat, fish or other seafood.
Let your soup simmer for about 10 minutes before adding your protein of choice. Immediately afterward, turn the heat down a bit.
Now add the mushrooms, which you should have washed beforehand.
Now take the 2 Roma tomatoes and 2 smaller white onions and cut them into wedges, they should be larger pieces. Now add them to the Tom Yum soup.
If you use shrimp, a light foam may form on the surface of the soup. You can remove this from the saucepan with a spoon.
Let the tom yum soup simmer again for 2-3 minutes at a higher temperature.
Now add about 6 tablespoons of fish sauce and 2 teaspoons of sugar. You may need more of both, but start with the stated amounts
Let your tom yum simmer for about 1 minute and then turn down the heat. We don't want to overcook the soup, the mushrooms and onions should be nice and soft, a sign that the soup is ready to serve.
Once the heat is down to 0, add the lime juice. Depending on how sour you like it, more or less.
Make sure you taste test until your tom yum is perfectly sour and salty. You might need to add more fish sauce, sugar, or lime juice.
Now chop a handful of fresh coriander and add it to the soup. The lime juice and cilantro taste fresher and more intense when not actively cooking, so I add those two ingredients last.
Now you have Tom Yum Nam Sai, the clear version of Tom Yum Soup.
For the creamy Tom Yum version:
For this recipe, you can set aside half of the clear version and use the rest for the creamy version.
Turn the heat down to low first.
Add 3 tablespoons of Roasted Thai Chilli Sauce (nam prik pao น้ำพริกเผา) to your soup and stir to combine.
Then add about 10 tablespoons of evaporated milk.
Mix everything together and let the soup heat up for about 1 minute.
At this point, you need to test and decide if you need to add more fish sauce or lime juice. That's because the milk and chili paste will dampen the sour and salty flavors in particular.
The creamy version of Tom Yum is now ready to serve.
This dish seems complicated with so many steps, but it is by no means. I just wanted to describe every little step in as much detail as possible. No extraordinary ingredients are needed for this dish and you can find them in every Asian supermarket.
Tom Yum is an example of many Thai dishes: healthy, low in calories, and a taste explosion.