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Thai tom yum soup recipe

April 2, 2015 By JC 7 Comments

Prepare this easy Thai tom yum soup recipe with easy to find ingredients so you will enjoy a delicious soup in less than 20 minutes.

This famous Thai food recipe is also known under the following names: ‘tom yum goong’ or ‘tom yam kung’ and translates literary to hot and sour soup with prawns:

  • ต้มยำ : ‘tom yum’ – hout and sour soup
  • กุ้ง : ‘goong’ – prawn.

However if you order ‘tom yum kai’ or ‘tom yum gai’, you will get a hot and sour soup cooked with chicken (ไก : ‘kai’). Click here when you want to learn the complete Thai alphabet in 1 hour.

Tom yum soup recipes

Click here for a clear, fresh-tasting tom yam soup with none of the oily instant tom yam paste gunk floating on top.

The recipe below makes 2 servings in 30 minutes, originally posted by The Skinny Cook’s wife, 02nd December 2005 (Fish and Seafood / Asian (Thailand) / Soup / Gas or electric stove / No marination) – Tom Yam Kung Soup | Hot and Spicy Thai Shrimp Soup

(Yum, like in yummiest-recipe…!) This for sure is my all time favorite soup: hot (not that you need to blow your nose every 5 seconds, then it is too hot…), spicy, sour, sweet and with lot’s of coconutmilk: simply delicious! Add some coconut-milk and sugar to "soften" the heat if needed.

tom yum soupThese hot and sour soups are a favorite in Thai restaurants, They combine the typical 4 tastes of Thai food: sweet, spicy, sour and ‘fish sauce’ salty.

If you do find yourself in Thailand one day, you must try it there. And if you aren’t traveling, the soup is a classic: available in each Thai restaurant all over the world, although each restaurant will use its own recipe. Make sure you indicate whether you want your soup with chicken, prawn or seafood.

Our recipe below is very spicy and you will feel the heat coming out of your ears ..literally! 🙂 If you are not in Asia, go and find some of the ingredients in an Asian shop or in "the Asian section" of your supermarket.

I love the aroma of this dish because of the many different smells you can get out of cooking it.

Thai tom yum soup recipe ingredients

  • A pot delicious and fast tom yum soup made with tom yum paste, fresh coriander and prawns6 medium size prawns
  • 2 tablespoons of coriander roots
  • 1 inch (2,5cm) piece of galangal root or lengkuas (sliced thinly)
  • 4 kaffir-lime leaves shred into pieces (limau purut leaves)
  • 2 stalks of lemon grass (pounded lightly)
  • 3 cups (750 ml) of boiling water
  • 2 table spoons of fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of tamarind juice (or replace with lime juice)
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (or more if you like it spicy) of tom yum paste (can be bought from any Asian shops) or use our Thai red curry paste recipe
  • 2 spring onions cut into 1 3/4 inch (4 cm) in length
  • coriander leaves for garnishing

How to make tom yum soup

  1. In a pot of boiling water (3 cups),put in the lengkuas, coriander roots, lemon grass and kaffir leaves and let it boil for about 15 minutes over slow fire.
  2. Add in the rest of the ingredients including the prawns, and let it boil for about 3 minutes or less. Do not overcook the prawns and serve immediately when ready.
  3. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Filed Under: Thailand

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. simcookssimcooks

    March 26, 2007 at 11:55 pm

    I also have a Tom Yum (Prawn) Soup in my blog! Ummm… the spiciness is so nice on a cold day. Helps to clear a stuffy nose too!

    Reply
  2. TheSkinnyCookTheSkinnyCook

    March 27, 2007 at 3:47 am

    From stuffy nose to running nose … seems noses can never win 🙂

    Reply
  3. stefstef

    March 27, 2007 at 10:59 am

    hi & thanks for visiting! I think my hubby will enjoy your tom yum — let’s hope i can find some coriander roots at the asian store this week!

    Reply
  4. TheSkinnyCookTheSkinnyCook

    March 28, 2007 at 8:30 am

    Stef – and others – : Do also check out Simcooks’ Tum Yam, as she adds some extra dry mushrooms to her recipe: happy eating!

    Reply
  5. MeltingWokMeltingWok

    March 31, 2007 at 9:52 am

    haha SkinnyCook: go Euro makan Malaysian food eh, I know I’d hate to try out places that I got no reco, well, can never go wrong with good o’MY food there 🙂 Btw, added u to my list, cheers ! 🙂

    Reply
  6. TheSkinnyCookTheSkinnyCook

    April 1, 2007 at 1:27 pm

    Oh well Meltingwok, little comparison between Malaysian food and European food:

    • Dinner for 2 in a European restaurant: about 50 Euros. Half of the time not knowing which restaurant is good, your travel adventures could easily end up with a mediocre meal for a high price.
    • Dinner for 2 in a Malaysian restaurant: 10 Euros and yummies. Ok, the latter because we have so many friends recommending us where good Malaysian restaurants are.
    Reply
  7. tigerfishtigerfish

    April 2, 2007 at 1:28 pm

    Yum Yum! You can add in some glass noodles in the Tom Yum soup and get a one-dish meal too!

    Reply

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The Skinny Cook

I’m on the Paleo diet, except I’m the caveman who discovered Supermarkets…

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