Tom Yam Goong

Tom Yam Goong, the famous Thai spicy and sour shrimp soup, originates from central Thailand. This region is often considered the culinary core of the country, where dishes are known for their balanced flavours of sweet, sour, salty and spicy.

The presence of shrimp in the dish makes sense, given Central Thailand's abundance of rivers and coastal areas. However, Tom Yam Goong has become so popular over time that it is now eaten all over Thailand, often with regional variations.

Ingredients for 4 persons

800g raw prawns, peeled and guts removed, keep the heads and peels
1.5 litre of water or chicken stock
4 crushed garlic cloves (or more/less as desired)
6 shallots in thin slices
3 fresh lime grass stalks, only 1/3rd of the lower part, cut into 2 cm pieces
10 thinly sliced galangal (Thai ginger)
250g small mushrooms cut in half
In Thailand they use 'straw mushrooms', a small brown mushroom grown on straw made from the rice plant. You can find them in tins in Oriental shops. You can also substitute them with our white or brown mushrooms, or another variety. Whatever you prefer.
2 tomatoes cut into 8 pieces
10 small fresh green chilli peppers, halved lengthwise. If you don't want too spicy, remove the seeds. If you want the soup extra spicy, take more chillies
60ml fish sauce
50ml lime juice (freshly squeezed)
10 (double) kaffir lime leaves (fresh or from the freezer, not dried) - torn into not too small pieces
Chopped coriander

If served as a main course: 250g fragrant basmati or Thai rice

Preparation

Put the shrimp heads and peels in a pan with the water or stock and bring to the boil. Remove the shrimp peels from the pan, strain the stock and push all the liquid out of the peels and heads well. Bring the stock back to the boil. Add the garlic, shallots, lemongrass and ginza and bring back to the boil.

Up to here, you can prepare in advance and then let the broth infuse to finish it later.

If serving the soup as a main course, cook the rice until tender according to the packet.

If you have let the broth cool, bring it back to the boil first. Add the mushrooms and tomatoes. Then the chilli peppers and fish sauce, followed by the torn kaffir lime leaves. Simmer gently for 2 minutes.

Then add the prawns and cook for about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and stir in the lime juice. Serve garnished with the coriander and a bowl of fragrant rice.

ทานให้อร่อย" (taan hai aroi) !