Tasty Tom Yum
This is a quick and easy soup, made even better if you can get all of the Thai ingredients - but a Tom Yum paste would work.
Ingredients:
Thai:
Galangal (fresh is hard to get, so dried or in jars works) - a good few slices if dried; in jars a couple of tablespoons (play around with it!)
Keffir lime leaves (Waitrose has them dried, Sainsburys fresh) - two per person is ideal
Lemongrass - one stick each, cut into 3cm segments. If you can't get it fresh, dried works too
Chili jam - this is optional, but if you find it, it makes a big difference.
Fish sauce
Brown sugar - ideally palm sugar
Supermarket:
Small red chillies - try one or two depending on how hot you like it. Chop them finely for more heat, or roughly for less
Half an onion per person, cut into chunks
Half a medium tomato per person, cut into chunks
A few oyster mushrooms per person (but other mushrooms work fine)
Four or five raw unpeeled prawns per person
Limes - try the juice of one per person
Method
In a good-sized saucepan heat one bowl of water per person on a high heat. When this begins to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and add the lemongrass, galangal, chili and keffir lime leaves (remove the stalk if they're fresh). Let them heat for a few minutes. Don't worry too much if the water boils again. Then add the onion, tomato and mushrooms. Let them simmer, again for a few minutes (I normally wait five, some say less - depends on how you like your flavours and how soggy you mind your mushrooms being; although you could always add these a little later!).
The soup should begin to turn a rich red colour. Now it's time to season - add fish sauce, perhaps a tablespoon per person, the sugar, and lime juice. Add a little at a time so you don't over-season and taste often. It's meant to be sour so don't be afraid of the lime, but sugar will balance out out if you go too far. Now's also the time to add the chili jam and the prawns, which will cook quickly - a couple of minutes at most - so don't overcook!
Serve with plenty of rice - it takes the heat out of the soup.
This is a quick and easy soup, made even better if you can get all of the Thai ingredients - but a Tom Yum paste would work.
Ingredients:
Thai:
Galangal (fresh is hard to get, so dried or in jars works) - a good few slices if dried; in jars a couple of tablespoons (play around with it!)
Keffir lime leaves (Waitrose has them dried, Sainsburys fresh) - two per person is ideal
Lemongrass - one stick each, cut into 3cm segments. If you can't get it fresh, dried works too
Chili jam - this is optional, but if you find it, it makes a big difference.
Fish sauce
Brown sugar - ideally palm sugar
Supermarket:
Small red chillies - try one or two depending on how hot you like it. Chop them finely for more heat, or roughly for less
Half an onion per person, cut into chunks
Half a medium tomato per person, cut into chunks
A few oyster mushrooms per person (but other mushrooms work fine)
Four or five raw unpeeled prawns per person
Limes - try the juice of one per person
Method
In a good-sized saucepan heat one bowl of water per person on a high heat. When this begins to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and add the lemongrass, galangal, chili and keffir lime leaves (remove the stalk if they're fresh). Let them heat for a few minutes. Don't worry too much if the water boils again. Then add the onion, tomato and mushrooms. Let them simmer, again for a few minutes (I normally wait five, some say less - depends on how you like your flavours and how soggy you mind your mushrooms being; although you could always add these a little later!).
The soup should begin to turn a rich red colour. Now it's time to season - add fish sauce, perhaps a tablespoon per person, the sugar, and lime juice. Add a little at a time so you don't over-season and taste often. It's meant to be sour so don't be afraid of the lime, but sugar will balance out out if you go too far. Now's also the time to add the chili jam and the prawns, which will cook quickly - a couple of minutes at most - so don't overcook!
Serve with plenty of rice - it takes the heat out of the soup.