Tom yum is a soul food for me, I love how the flavour balances out so well together with seafood. The dish is traditionally from Thailand and originally made with prawns, but can also be made with chicken or pork. This dish has been a source of inspiration for many other cultures including it’s surrounding neighbour countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and etc.. There are two different types of Tom yum soup. The first Tom yum soup is Tom yum nam Sai which is a clear broth Tom yum soup and the second Tom yum soup is Tom yum nam khon which became popular from around the 1980s. This version of Tom yum soup is thicker and creamer due to the addition of coconut cream or evaporated milk. The main ingredients that are used to make the broth are the same for both types of Tum yum which are usually fresh lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, Thai chilies, tomato, coriander, galangal, lime juice, sugar and fish sauce.
In Cambodia Tom yum was first served in the city and in tourist areas, but overtime that has changed because many Cambodians from the countryside moved to Thailand in order to find better paying jobs, especially those who lives in the upper part of Cambodia and then returned with the influence of Thailand’s food culture. Just like many other countries the soup has gained high popularity and is served as a special dish to some Cambodian families. What I love most about Tom yum is the sour sweet and salty flavour of the soup and also its very similar to most Cambodian sour clear soups because we often have them with prawns which is my most favourite seafood besides crabs.
Note: when making Tom yum I recommend making it from scratch rather than using the pre-made paste. Using fresh herbs gives the soup it’s original authentic aroma and a fresher flavour. However if you are unable to find the fresh herbs you can still use the pre-made paste, but the flavour will be slightly different.
Becareful with the amount of thai chilies that are added into the broth, because when the chopped chilies are boiled in the broth the flavour and spice will become more dominate.
The version I’m making is the clear soup Tom yum, I used mixed seafood for this soup, but you can use which ever you prefer or just make it the original way. The sour, sweet and saltiness of the soup can vary depending on your own specific taste.
SEAFOOD TOM YUM
Prep-Time: 15 mins Serve: 2
Cooking Times: 17 mins
Ingredients
350g sea marinara
2 stork coriander, chopped (keep roots if available)
5 Thai chilies, roughly chopped
5 slices galangal
5 kaffir lime leaves, washed
2 lemongrass, finger length diagonally cut
5 medium size button mushrooms, half
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cube stock powder
1 tomato, roughly chopped
1-2 lime juice
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1.8-2L water
Method
Bring water to boil in a medium sized pot over high heat. Once the water starts boiling add in salt, sugar, stock and fish sauce. After this add in the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, chilies and coriander roots. Leave the pot to boil for five minutes to allow the aroma of the herbs and spices to flavour the broth.
Add in the mushrooms, tomato, onion and seafood … and stir to separate, then leave it to boil once again for 2 minutes or until the tomato softens.
Squeeze in 1 lime juice and then stir. Give the soup a taste and adjust the sour, sweet and saltiness to your liking. Turn off the heat and then toss in the chopped coriander, stir and then remove from the stove. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.