Tom Yum Soup

 

Last week I was looking over all the recipes we’ve posted up until now, and one glaring thing really stood out to me.  WE HAVEN’T POSTED ANY THAI RECIPES! Like, what the hell have I been doing folks? So, it should come at no surprise that today we are going to be making a classic Thai dish.  And since it’s finally soup weather here in Colorado I figured there was no better Thai recipe to make then delicious tom yum soup.

 

Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with tom yum all you need to know is that it’s a light soup that’s a perfectly balanced combination of salty, sour, and spicy flavors.  And while today’s recipe for tom yum soup does have a long list of ingredients, don’t let that scare you. This is really one of the easiest soups you can make. Thiers no sauteing involved, and no special concoctions that you have to mix together.  All you have to do is add the ingredients to a pot, let them simmer for a little, and in 30 minutes you will have a wonderfully delicious soup. So if you’re getting hungry then let’s get to making our tom yum soup.

 

Tips, Tricks & Suggestions

• Today we are going to be using chicken in our tom yum soup.  However, if you want to be a little more traditional and use shrimp then feel free to do it.  Just make sure to add the shrimp 6 minutes before you plan on eating, or else it can get overcooked.
• Another popular Thai soup is tom kha which essential is tom yum with coconut milk added to it.  If you want to turn this soup into tom kha then simply sub out 2 cups of the chicken broth with 2 cups of coconut milk, and omit the sugar.
• Today I have decided to list all of the aromatic ingredients as optional.  The reason for this is that red curry paste basically includes all of these ingredients in a cooked paste form.  So while they aren’t necessary I do recommend using them as they will really give your tom tum a more pronounced flavor.
• Once you’ve made this recipe a couple of times and figured what it should taste like, try and experiment with the type of veggies you add to it.  Some of my favorite things to add in are sliced zucchini and sliced carrots.
• I always recommend that you use homemade chicken broth when you make soup.

 

 

Tom Yum Soup Recipe

 

Prep time: 5 to 10 minutes

 

Cook time: 20 to 30 minutes

 

Servings: 6 bowls

 

Ingredients

 

2 Quarts of chicken broth

1 Large chicken breast, cut into thin strips

2 Cups of mushrooms, sliced

1 Large white onion, cut into thick strips

2 Medium-sized tomatoes, cut into thick strips

2 Tablespoons of fish sauce

2 Teaspoons of sugar

1 Teaspoon of salt

2 Tablespoons of Thai red curry paste, or nam prik pao if you can find it

Juice from 4 limes

 

Optional aromatics:

1 Inch sized piece of ginger, sliced thin 

2 Stocks of lemongrass, cut into inch-sized pieces

2 to 6 Thai chili peppers, sliced thin

4 Cloves of garlic, sliced thin

5 to 6 kaffir lime leaves, ripped into pieces

 

Garnish:

Cilantro, roughly chopped

 

Instructions

 

1. Simmer stock with aromatics: Get out a large pot and pour the 2 quarts of chicken stock in it.  Place this over medium-high heat and toss in any of the optional aromatics that you plan on using.  Once it comes to a simmer cover the pot and let it all simmer for 20 minutes.

 

2. Add the chicken, mushrooms, and onion: After 20 minutes toss in the chicken, mushrooms, and onion.  Cover the pot again and let everything simmer for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked.

 

3. Add the tomato along with the fish sauce, salt, sugar, red curry paste, and lime juice.  Stir everything together and let this simmer for 2 more minutes.

 

4. Taste and adjust if needed: Taste the tom yum broth.  If it is too salty or spicy then add a little more sugar to balance it out.  If it’s too sour then add some more salt to balance it out.

 

5. Serve and garnish with cilantro

 

 

Inspiration from other blogs

From Rasa Malaysia

From Eating Thai Food