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
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.
Ingredients
- 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
- 30 grams (4-5) Fresh Red Chilies
- 15 grams (4-5) Big Garlic Cloves
- 50 ml (¼ cup) Vinegar
- 100 grams Sugar
- 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
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
I am very fond of Tom Yum Goong soup and I love your pictures which goes on to show how perfect it has turned out. I think this delicious bowl is so fulfilling, that sometimes I just need this and I am sorted. Thanks for the recipe.