TOM YUM GOONG (THAI HOT AND SOUR SHRIMP SOUP Bangkok-style)

TOM YUM GOONG (THAI HOT AND SOUR SHRIMP SOUP Bangkok-style)

Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal

Ingredients

2 ½ cups (600 ml) water
2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, cut into 3-inch (7 ½ cm) strips and pounded 2-inch (5cm) piece galangal, sliced
8 kaffir lime leaves, torn
6 bird’s eye (Thai) chiles, lightly pounded
2 tablespoons Thai roasted chili paste
8 ounces (230 g) peeled, deveined, tail-on jumbo or medium-sized shrimp
1 tomato, cut into wedges
6 fresh oyster mushrooms, or canned straw mushrooms
3 teaspoons fish sauce
3 ½ tablespoons lime juice
4 tablespoons evaporated milk, optional
4 sprigs cilantro, leaves only, chopped

Instructions

Bring water to a boil. Add the lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves and chiles, and bring to boil. Add chili paste, stir to dissolve. Add the shrimp, tomato, mushrooms and fish sauce. Stir with a ladle to combine.

Boil the soup for about 1 minute, or until the shrimp are cooked. Turn off the heat, add the lime juice and evaporated milk, if using. Garnish with the cilantro leaves and serve immediately with steamed rice. For best results, make the soup with shrimp stock. To make the shrimp stock, boil shrimp shells with water and discard the shells.

Evaporated milk is the secret ingredient that gives tom yum goong a little extra body. The evaporated milk makes the soup creamier and even more tantalizing to the taste buds.