Tom Yum Soup
This soup is so easy to make, especially if you can find a Tom Yum Soup kit at your local supermarket. They usually include most of the necessary ingredients.
I remember the first time I made this soup with my now husband, then boyfriend, like it was yesterday. We walked in and out of half a dozen produce stores looking for the ingredients and we couldn’t find lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves anywhere so we had to postpone making the soup. It was still a fun food adventure; I love going for walks, especially with Eli. Just in case you’re wondering, you can almost always find the soup kits at Superstore in the produce section.
This soup is sweet, sour and spicy. It has it all. It’s great on a rainy day. We have lots of those in Vancouver unfortunately, but snow is coming soon. It will be a nice change. :0)
Ingredients:
4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 lemongrass stalk
2 kaffir lime leaves
A few large slices of fresh galangal or ginger (1/4 cup)
2 red Thai chili peppers
1 tsp of red chili paste
1 tsp sugar (optional)
2 tbsp fish sauce
A dozen medium prawns
A handful of Enoki mushrooms
The juice of 1 lime
A handful of finely chopped green onions
A handful of cilantro leaves
Noodles (optional)
Bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan. Cut the lemongrass stalk into 2 or 3 large pieces and add it to your stock. Add the galangal, kaffir lime leaves, red chili paste and red chili peppers. If you like your soup really spicy, cut your chili peppers in half. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes so that all the flavours come together.
Add the fish sauce and prawns. Simmer until the prawns are just about cooked, about 5 minutes. Add your noodles and cook for a minute or two. Add your mushrooms, green onions, lime juice and cilantro. Stir all the ingredients.
Remove the lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves before serving.
Serves 2
Enjoy!