Tom Yum – Thai Spicy & Sour Seafood Soup
Tom Yum is a very popular Thai dish. This delicious spicy and sour seafood soup get’s it’s complex and delicious flavour from using a combination of ingredients with flavours that really zing, complimenting each other and making this a true favourite of Thai cuisine. It is not hard to make this wonderful dish and the ingredients can be easily obtained online or in specialist supermarkets. Why not give your taste buds a treat and have a go at making this at home. The recipe is for 2 servings.
Ingredients
8 Medium Sized Shrimp
4 Large Green Lip Mussels
2 Small Squid
Galangal – 50g (2oz) thinly sliced
6 Thai Birds Eye Chillis – crushed
2 Limes – cut into quarters
Chilli Paste – 4 tbsp
3 or 4 Mushrooms – thinly sliced
2 Tomatoes or 12 Cherry Tomatoes – cut regular ones into quarters, cherry tomatoes in half
8 or 9 Kaffir Lime Leaves – chopped into halves
1 Large or 2 Small Red Onions – roughly chopped (shallots can be used as an alternative)
A handful of Sawtoothed Coriander – cut into 5cm (2″) pieces
Condensed Milk – 6 tbsp
Fish Sauce – 2 or 3 tbsp dependent on your taste
Egg Noodles – 200g (8oz)
6 to 8 Wonton Wrappers – cut diagonally into triangles
4 Lemongrass Stems – cut into thin slices
Making the Wonton Crackers
Heat 5 to 10cm (2″ to 4″) of cooking oil in a pan to between 200C (400F) and 230C (450F). Cook the wonton triangles in batches of 3 or 4. Drop the triangles into the oil and using a fork, stir them to ensure even cooking. As soon as they start to turn light brown remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon and place them in a sieve or drying rack to drain.
Cooking the Tom Yum Soup
Fill a pan with 1.5 litres (3 pints) of water and bring to the boil. Whilst waiting for your water to boil, peel the shrimps leaving their tails on and then slice halfway through so that they “butterfly” out. Clean the mussel shells using a pan scourer and clean the squid and cut into 1cm (1/2″) slices.
Once your water is boiling, add the lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves and reduce the heat and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Whilst these key ingredients are infusing into your water, bring another pan of water to the boil and cook your egg noodles. It usually takes between 3 to 5 minutes to cook them depending on the thickness of noodle you have, check the pack for recommended cooking time. Once they are cooked, drain your noodles and separate into your serving bowls.
Once you have done that, it is time to return to your Tom Yum and add the onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and squid. Allow the soup to simmer for another 10 minutes. This gives you enough time to pre-cook your mussels, you can either boil or steam them, both methods taking around 10 minutes. Discard any mussels that don’t open once cooked and remove one half of the shell, leaving your mussels sitting on half a shell.
Now it is time to add the chilli paste, fish sauce, lime juice and condensed milk. I highly recommend adding the chilli paste and fish sauce a little at the time until your soup is suitable for your own tastes. Living in Thailand I have got used to eating spicy food so chilli’s and chilli paste get thrown into my cooking in large quantities.
Once you have reached a balanced taste not too spicy for you and not too sour for you, it is time to add the remainder of the ingredients. Once you have added the shrimps, chillis, parsley and mussels, give your Tom Yum a little stir and allow to simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
With a slotted spoon, take the mussels out of your Tom Yum and put to one side for a moment. Now ladle the Tom Yum over the noodles in your serving dishes.
Finally, place the mussels and 3 or 4 wonton crackers on top of your soup.
All that is left to do now is enjoy your cooking.
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