Ingredients for the tom yam soup
- The base of the tom yum flavor
- Shrimp stock
- Seasonings: fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and Thai chili paste
How to prepare tom yum soup
Lemongrass
- Cut off the green section of the lemongrass and also the part near to the root.
- Remove the outer sheath of the center part. The inner layer of this part is where the flavor is concentrated. It is slightly pale green, and the innermost layer is almost white.
- Cut this part on the bias into three or four sections, depending on the size. Some people like to bash them to release the flavor much faster, but I prefer to leave it for aesthetic reasons. I can extract the flavor by boiling it slightly longer.
Kaffir lime leaves
These leaves have a unique aroma (you can smell them to check out). Plug the leaves and discard the stems. You may want to tear them in half to speed up the flavor’s release but prefer to leave them intact and boil a little longer along with the lemongrass.
Galangal
Galangal looks like ginger but has a distinct flavor. As such, you cannot substitute galangal with regular ginger (which can be disastrous). Galangal is quite hard and sometimes can be quite dirty (because it is a root vegetable). Wash them thoroughly and cut them into thin slices. There is no need to remove the skin for this tom yum soup recipe since we will not eat them, only to extract the flavor.
Garlic and shallot
Garlic is optional in making tom yum soup, as you might have read some other tom yum recipes that do not include it. However, I like the flavor of garlic, which complements lemongrass and galangal. Bash the garlic, throw the whole clove into the stock, and boil together with other aromatic ingredients.
You can substitute the shallot with yellow onion, which is a personnel preference as I have seen various Thai restaurants adopt different approaches. Cut the shallot into half if they are too big.
Use shrimp stock to prepare tom yum broth
The most crucial element to making the best tom yum soup is the stock. You can use plain water to make tom yum, but the authentic way always starts with a good stock, mainly shrimp stock.
There are two ways you can do it.
- The first method is to cook the shrimp in water with the shell and head attached. By the time the shrimp is cooked, the water has become the shrimp stock.
- The second method is to separate the head and shell from the meat, use them to boil in water to make the stock, and then strain to get the clean stock. I don’t like to peel each shrimp and remove the head while eating, but that is only my preference, of course.
will wash the head and shell repeatedly as they are quite dirty sometimes. Then prepare a pot of water and bring it to a boil. Pour the shrimp heads and shells into it and keep it at a constant boil to extract the flavor.
Do this for about fifteen minutes, and the flavor should have been all extracted.
Prepare the remaining ingredients
Mushrooms
Mushrooms are essential ingredients in making tom yum soup. I haven’t been served tom yum soup in any restaurants without mushrooms, be it tom yum goong, tom yum gai, or other variants.
The common types are oyster mushrooms, which I used in this tom yum recipe. Tear the mushroom into small pieces before adding it to the soup stock.
Other suitable mushrooms for tom yum are shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, straw mushrooms, and shimeiji mushrooms.
Tomato
Cut one tomato into wedges and throw them into the stock along with the mushrooms. Some tom yum soup recipe does not include tomato, but I used it to add more flavor to the soup.
Thai chilies
Thai chilies are a must for preparing tom yum. Bird’s eye chilies are the ideal types for making tom yum. They are relatively small, about two to three inches long, and comes in two colors- red and green. These chilies are fiercely hot, so be prudent if you cannot withstand the heat. Generally, I will use three chilies for each serving, but the Thai people usually include more as they can take very hot food.
Cut off the chilies’ stem, then bash the chilies with the knife and cut them into two sections.
Lime juice
The citrusy note of tom yum soup comes from lime juice. You should choose those larger lime (key lime), not those small kalamansi lime, as you need about a quarter cup of lime juice for two servings.
Strain the lime juice through a wire mesh strainer to remove the pulp and seeds.
The flavor of lime juice can be destroyed by prolonged boiling, so it is best to add only at the final stage of cooking, preferably after turning off the heat.
The rind of the lime is bitter, so it is essential only to use the juice.
Evaporated milk
There are two types of tom yum, the clear and the milky one. You need to add evaporated milk (not condensed milk or regular fresh milk) to turn the clear soup into a milky one. Evaporated milk is an authentic ingredient. Coconut milk is not for the creamy tom yum soup recipe.
Thai chili paste (Nam Prik Pao)
The tom yum soup flavor will accentuate by adding a small amount of the Thai chili paste. This chili paste is different from other chili paste made in other countries as it contains some shrimp. Other chili pastes are not the substitute for the Thai chili paste.
You need to add more Thai chili paste to the soup when preparing the creamy tom yum soup. It is added in the final stage, together with the evaporated milk. The chili paste coupled with the evaporated milk will turn the clear soup into a red and milky color and slightly thicker.
Fish sauce, sugar, and coriander leaves
Fish sauce is the main ingredient to provide the savory flavor of tom yum soup. The saltiness should balance with a fair amount of sugar (white or brown sugar). Sugar also acts as the balancing ingredient for the sourness of the lime juice. Therefore, it is useful to carry out a taste test before serving, as the saltiness and sourness may differ due to the use of different brands of fish sauce and the lime quality.
The leaves of the coriander are added at the last minute for decoration. The stems are cut into tiny short sections and add to the soup for more flavor.
The cooking process
a. Prepare the shrimp stock for tom yum
Clean the shrimp heads and shells thoroughly with water. You can use all the heads and shells from the shrimp to cook this tom yum soup, but the flavor might not be enough. Therefore, I suggest you keep the shrimp heads and shells whenever you purchase shrimp and keep them for this purpose.
Bring a pot of water, about 1.5 liters, to a boil. Place all the heads and shells into it and wait until it starts to boil again.
Reduce the heat and keep it at a constant boil with the lid on for fifteen minutes, enough to extract all the flavor.
Remove the heads and shells by pouring the stock through a wire mesh strainer. The stock should now be reduced to about 1 liter, which is the right amount for this recipe.
b. Prepare other ingredients
Prepare the rest of the ingredients (cut, wash, measure) as mentioned in the previous section.
c. Extract the flavor of the spices
Bring the shrimp stock to a boil again.
Place the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, garlic, and shallot in the boiling water, and let it simmer for fifteen minutes. Keep the pot cover to prevent the stock from reduced too much.
It takes slightly longer to extract the flavor since I do not bash the lemongrass and tear the kaffir lime leaves. If you have done so, ten minutes should be enough to extract the taste of these ingredients.
After fifteen minutes, remove these ingredients from the stock. You can leave them inside and proceed to the next step, but I think the amount of these unpalatable ingredients is too much, and therefore decided to remove it. I will choose some nice-looking pieces to add back to the stock as garnishing at a later stage.
d. Add the main ingredients
Add the mushrooms to the stock. When it returns to a boil again, add the shrimp, followed by the coriander stems and tomato wedges. This time is also when you should add other ingredients (chicken, squid, fish, etc.)
When the shrimp is cooked through, reduce the heat to low.
e. Season the soup
Now it is time to season the soup with lime juice, Thai chili paste, sugar, and fish sauce.
Add these ingredients into the soup and switch off the stove.
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