Pining for Pol Sambol

Passport & Plate - Tom Yum Goong from scratch

Thailand | Sunday, March 1, 2015 | 5 photos

Ingredients
2 cups stock (I used prawn broth)
7-8 medium sized prawns, peeled with tails intact
5-6 fresh kaffir lime leaves, torn into pieces with centre vein removed
2 lemongrass stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces and bruised with the blunt end of a knife
4-5 very thin slices of fresh galangal
1 tbsp coriander roots, cleaned well
½ cup straw mushrooms (or fresh white mushrooms), halved
1 tbsp Nam Prik Pao – Thai chilli paste
2 tbsp fresh lime juice or to taste
2 tbsp fish sauce or to taste
4-5 small red chillies, sliced
¼ cup lightly-packed coriander leaves

 

How to prepare this recipe
Make the prawn broth by adding the prawn heads and shells, a bay leaf, a few peppercorns, a dash of rice vinegar, half a sliced onion and a pinch of salt into 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about half an hour. Strain the broth through a sieve and leave aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a very gentle boil over medium heat. Monitor the temperature so that the liquid is not boiling but barely simmering (the broth needs to be infused with the fresh herbs, similar to making tea).

Add the lemongrass, galangal, coriander root and kaffir lime leaves to the broth and simmer for 4-5 minutes till the broth becomes fragrant. Add the mushrooms. Stir in Nam Prik Pao. Add the fish sauce, followed by the sliced red chillies. While the broth is gently simmering, lower the prawns into it while monitoring the temperature, the prawns should be poached so they remain nice and juicy and not rubbery (1 minute should be enough). Give the broth a few stirs.

Once the prawns have firmed up and turned opaque, remove the saucepan from heat. Season with lime juice, taste. Add more fish sauce or lime juice if necessary. Stir in the coriander leaves and serve the soup piping hot with steamed rice and a couple of lime wedges on the side. Gin Khao!

 

The story behind this recipe
The most amazing Tom Yum Goong I have had was on this little wooden boat in the middle of Phang Nga bay in Thailand. It was freshly prepared on-board by two lovely little Thai ladies – the soup was flavoured beautifully with fragrant lemongrass, coriander, and kaffir lime leaves with plump pink prawns and straw mushrooms bobbing about, it was simply delicious. What made it more memorable was the stunning, almost surreal view from the boat - sheer limestone cliffs jutting out of the blue green waters of the bay, and of course the wonderful company (my husband and I were on holiday in Phuket). This was almost ten years ago but we still feel it was one of the best holidays we have had.

This Tom Yum Goong is an adaptation of a tried and tested recipe by an experienced Thai cook, but what makes it special is that I made it from scratch - right from the prawn broth.