Tom Yum (Lemon Grass Soup)
Tom yum is characterized by its distinct hot and sour flavours, with fragrant herbs generously used.
The basic broth is made of stock and fresh ingredients such as lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, shallots, lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind, and crushed chilli peppers.
In Thailand, tom yum is usually made with prawns (tom yum goong), chicken (tom yum gai), fish (tom yum pla), or mixed sea-food (tom yum talay or tom yum po taek) and mushrooms – usually straw or oyster mushrooms. The soup is often topped with a generous sprinkling of freshly chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves.
In Thailand, tom yum is usually made with prawns (tom yum goong), chicken (tom yum gai), fish (tom yum pla), or mixed sea-food (tom yum talay or tom yum po taek) and mushrooms – usually straw or oyster mushrooms. The soup is often topped with a generous sprinkling of freshly chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves.
The less popular variety of tom yum is tom yum nam khon (Thai: ต้มยำน้ำข้น), where coconut milk is added to the broth. This is not to be confused with tom kha or tom kha gai – where the galanga flavour dominates the soup. Tom yum nam khon is almost always made with prawns, whereas chicken is often used in tom kha. Its other cousin is less well-known outside Thailand – tom klong. Sometimes Thai chilli jam (Nam Prik Pao, Thai: น้ำพริกเผา) is added: this gives the soup a bright orange colour and makes the chilli flavour more pronounced.
If you want a fast way to make Tom yum khon you can buy a paste with the ingredients preprepared however this will not be as good as making the dish fresh.
Hope you enjoy Thai food!
By Prae
Thai Language Teacher
