Tom Yum Soup Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott, adapted from
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes: 2 large bowls
Ingredients Needed
- 2.5 cups/625ml/0.6quart water
- 250g/8.8ozs raw prawns, weight with head and shells on
- 12cm/4.7inch stalk lemongrass
- 3 golden shallots, around 75g/2.6ozs
- 5 slices galangal
- 6 makrut lime leaves
- 400/14oz tin straw mushrooms, drained weight 200g/7ozs
- 200g/7ozs cherry tomatoes
- 1 red chilli (optional), finely diced
- 2 tablespoons tom yum paste
- 1 tablespoon nam prik pao
- 3 tablespoons evaporated milk or coconut milk
- 4-5 tablespoons lime juice
- 1-2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
For Prawns
- Oil for frying
- Shells prawns from above
- 1 teaspoon cornflour or flour
- Pinch of salt and white pepper
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 - First de-head and peel prawns keeping the heads and shells. Place the water in a medium saucepan to boil. Add the prawn heads and shells and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove, drain and discard the heads and shells.
Step 2 - Cut the lemongrass into 2 inch lengths and bruise or smash it with the base of the handle of your knife. Peel the shallots and slice the galangal. Add the lemongrass, shallots and galangal to the prawn stock. Bring back to a boil. Add lime leaves, drained straw mushroom halves, whole cherry tomatoes and chilli. Then stir in tom yum paste and nam prik pao. Once it comes to a boil turn off the heat. Add in the evaporated milk and stir. Then season with lime juice, fish sauce and sugar to taste.
Step 3 - Devein the prawns by cutting down the back and removing the sand vein. Place in a bowl and add the flour, salt and pepper and mix with chopsticks or tongs to coat the prawns with the seasoned flour. Heat a small frying pan on medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Fry prawns for 1 minute on each side. Reserve 2 large prawns to top each bowl and cut the rest into 2-3 pieces and add to the soup. Finish with coriander and one whole prawn on top.
Personal Note
I make Thai food a lot and it's one of my favourite cuisines as well as being one of my favourite places to visit on holiday. I was at a tourism event for Thailand the other day. I'm not a big drinker and because I was driving and it was lunchtime I decide to have a longan juice. The tourism lady was so friendly and made the drink for me making sure that I got some whole longans in my juice.
I chatting to people while sipping the juice and then a speaker came to the lectern and we were asked to gather around and take a seat. "Please take a seat there," said someone gesturing to the front row where there was one seat empty. I'm usually someone that likes the back of the bus or the back so that I can see everything (from watching too much true crime!) but since she was looking at me expectantly I took a seat in the front row.
The speech started and the first speaker was the ambassador. Then I felt a tickle in my throat. "Oh god no," I said to myself, trying to stifle it. You know how hard it is to stop a cough and I could feel my face getting redder when I was trying to stop it. Then I started breathing oddly because I was trying to stifle the cough. I had to cough and so I had my little coughing fit and then took a sip of drink and hoped that that was the end of it.
Just to make sure, I speared a longan to try and clear my throat but then suddenly I started choking hard on the longan. If it wasn't so embarrassing I'd be laughing at the absurdity of it. I fled from the front row to have my choking and coughing fit never to return there. I watched the rest of the speeches from the side at the back ready to run away. Apparently I later read that while longans don't directly make you cough, in Chinese medicine they are considered a "hot" or "warm" food that makes you cough!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried making Tom Yum Soup at home and if so, did you make it creamy like this version or the classic clear style? And are you a backseat lurker or a front row rider? And has this sort of thing ever happened to you?