Tom Yum Goong, Hot & Sour Thai Soup Recipe

Tom Yum Goong, the hot & sour Thai soup, has become cult over the years and is very popular with tourists, who visit Thailand, as well with Thai people. A real Tom Yum Goong can be explosively hot and will run rings around You. While You order the hot & sour soup in a non-touristic restaurant in Thailand, tell the waiter You don´t want it hot (thai: mai ped),. No worry, the soup will be still very spicy, because Thai people have another experience of heat. You´ll need a bit of time to prepare a tasty stock for “Tom Yum Goong”, like the stock for Tom Kha Gai. Most Thai soups, except Thai rice soup, noodle soups or rice porridge, are always served as a part of the main course and are eaten with fragrant Thai rice. To obtain a perfect result, use fresh lemongras, galangal and Kaffir lime leaves.

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Picture: Tom Yum Goong, Hot & Sour Thai Soup

Recipe: Hot and Sour Thai Soup Tom Yum Goong
Ingredients:
750 ml water
6 shrimps/prawns with head and shell
200 g straw mushrooms
3 bulbs lemongrass
5-6 Kaffir limeleaves
2-3 cm galangal in fine slices
5-6 green and red Thai Chilies Prik Kee Noo
1 coriander root
Juice from 3-4 limes
1-2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tablespoon Nam Prik Pao (roasted Thai chili paste)
a pinch of sugar
optional 3-4 tablespoons of coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon Umami MSG Monosodiumglutamat food enhancer
a handful coriander leaves and spring onions, chopped

Preparation:
Remove the head of the shrimps/prawns. Add lemongras (crack the bulbs with a pestle), galanga slices, kaffir lime leaves, coriander root (crack the root with a pestle), shrimp heads and Thai chilies (crack the chilies with a pestle) to a pot with cold water and simmer for about 1 hour or longer. Remove the shrimp heads and add shrimps/prawns and straw mushrooms. Boil for about 5-10 min. Flavour the brew with limejuice, fish sauce, sugar, Nam prik pao (roasted Thai chili paste) and MSG. If You like the soup more creamy add 3-4 tablespoons coconut milk. Garnish with coriander leaves and spring onions and serve the hot & sour Thai soup with boiled Thai jasmine rice.

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