Tom Yum Goong
THAI · THAILAND

Tom Yum Goong

ต้มยำกุ้งSoup

Thailand's sharpest, loudest shrimp soup: galangal, lemongrass and makrut lime leaf in a broth that hits sour, hot and funky all at once. The prawns go in last, just long enough to curl, so they stay sweet and snappy.

Total
40 min
Heat
4/5
Serves
4

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Flavour profile

Heat
Funk
Acid
Richness
Umami
  • Funky
  • Herby
  • Sour
  • Spicy

The real deal

Region
Central Thailand; tom yum is the country's defining hot-and-sour soup, and goong means prawn.
Technique
Aromatics bruised and simmered in the broth, then the heat, sour and salt built at the very end so nothing turns flat.
We kept
Real galangal, lemongrass, makrut lime leaves, nam prik pao and a serious lime-and-fish-sauce finish; no coconut milk, because tom yum goong nam sai is the clear version.

Ingredients

4 Serves

soup

  • 400 g · raw, shell on if you can get them
  • 1.2 l · or prawn stock made from the shells
  • 400 ml
  • 2 tbsp
  • 3 tbsp
  • 3
  • 1 tsp · palm sugar if you have it
  • 1 pinch · optional
  • 200 g · halved, drained if canned
  • 150 g · halved

Aromatics

  • 3 · bruised, cut into batons
  • 5 cm · sliced into coins
  • 6 · torn, stems out
  • 3 · optional · smashed
  • 4 · bruised

Garnish

  • 1 bunch · leaves picked

Method

  1. Peel 400 g , leaving the last tail segment on if you like. Keep the shells and heads: they are the best stock you have. Devein the prawns and chill them.

    Heads and shells are pure umami. Toast them in a dry pan for 2 min and simmer in the broth later for a far deeper tom yum.

  2. Smash 3 with the flat of a knife and cut into 4 cm batons. Slice 5 cm into thin coins, tear 6 free of their stems, smash 3 and bruise 4 just until they split.

    Bruising, not fine chopping, is the point: the aromatics flavour the broth and stay on the plate because nobody eats them.

  3. Bring 1.2 l and 400 ml to a bare simmer. Add the lemongrass, galangal, makrut leaves, coriander root and bruised chillies. Simmer gently, uncovered, until the broth smells like a Thai kitchen, about 10 min. Do not let it boil hard or it turns cloudy and bitter.

  4. Add 200 g and 150 g to the broth and simmer until the mushrooms are just tender and the tomato skins start to slip, about 4 min.

  5. Stir in 2 tbsp , 3 tbsp and 1 tsp . Taste: it should already be salty, savoury and a little smoky from the chilli paste.

    Nam prik pao is what gives tom yum its roasted depth and its faint sweetness. Skipping it makes the soup taste thin.

  6. Slide in the and poach until they turn opaque and curl into a loose C, about 1 min 30 sec. Pull the pot off the heat the moment they are done.

    An overcooked prawn turns rubbery and leaks its sweetness into the broth. A tight O means it has gone too far.

  7. Off the heat, squeeze in the juice of 3 and stir once. Taste again and adjust with more fish sauce or lime: the soup should be sour first, then hot, then salty.

    Never boil after the lime goes in; heat kills the fresh perfume and leaves the sourness flat and cooked.

  8. Ladle into bowls, making sure each gets prawns, mushrooms and tomato. Scatter over 1 bunch and a pinch of if you want it hotter, and serve with rice. Tell everyone the lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves are flavour, not food.

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