Tom Yum Goong Soup

Recently we’d been to a restaurant for Easter celebrations and we ordered some Tom Yum Soup. I found it extremely spicy and I couldn’t have any of it. In that instant I decided to take a shot at making this soup at home.

 

On getting home I did some research, flipped through my cooking course books, food magazines and I finally managed to come up with this recipe. It is somewhat tedious to make since you need to first prepare seafood stock and sweet red chili paste, and only then can you actually start preparing the soup.

 

While there is some effort in gathering all the ingredients, preparing stock and sauce, cleaning and deveining the prawns, and cutting vegetables, it goes without saying that there’s no gain without some pain. That unfortunately how life’s been so far :).

However this Thai Soup is worth all the efforts you have to put into preparing it. Taste it once and you will never order it outside again.

 

Tom Yum means sour clear Thai soup and goong means prawns. This is a hot and sour shrimp soup generally had with rice. It is famous in Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

So let’s start with the step by step making of this Thai Soup.

 

Equipment and Utensils

Sauce pan

Strainer

Frying pan

Small bowl

Wok

Mixer

 

Ingredients

For SeaFood Stock:

150 grams (1½ cup) Fish heads, Prawns heads and Shells

2 Lime Leaves

5-6 Coriander Roots

2-3 Springs of Coriander

1 Lemongrass Stem cut into 1 inch pieces

1 inch piece of Galangal roughly chopped

1 teaspoon Fish Sauce

1000 ml Water

For Sweet Chili Sauce

30 grams (4-5) Fresh Red Chilies

15 grams (4-5) Big Garlic Cloves

50 ml (¼ cup) Vinegar

100 grams Sugar

For Soup:

2½ Cups Seafood Stock

1 Tablespoon Sweet Chili Paste

25 grams Carrot cut into 1 cm cubes

40 grams French Beans finely chopped

1 Green Onion roughly chopped

10-12 Prawns cleaned and deveined

2 teaspoons Vegetable Oil

Juice of 1 lime

Few Coriander Leaves

Salt to taste

 

Directions

Seafood Stock:

Take all ingredients required for seafood stock in a sauce pan.

Keep the sauce pan on high flame.

When it comes to boil, simmer it for 10 minutes.

Switch off the flame and let the stock cool down.

Now strain it and collect the stock in a bowl.

Sweet Chili Sauce

Put chilies, garlic and vinegar in a mixer jar.

Grind it to a smooth paste.

Now put sugar and 1 cup of water in a frying pan.

Keep this frying pan on low flame.

When sugar is dissolved, put this chili paste into the sweet liquid.

Boil it for 2-3 minutes till the mixture gets to a pouring consistency.

Keep it runny, when it cools down it will attain the desired consistency.

Tom Yum Soup:

Put two teaspoons of oil in a wok and keep it on medium flame.

When oil becomes hot, add green onions, carrots and beans.

Sauté them for 2 minutes.; then add stock.

When stock comes to boil, add prawns and 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce.

Add salt and check for seasoning.

Now switch off the gas.

Add coriander leaves and lemon juice.

Tom Yum Goong soup is ready to serve.

 

Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Cooking Time: 24 minutes

 

Number of Servings: 3

 

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