Tom Yum Goong (Hot & Sour Prawn Soup)

Name: Tom Yum Goong (Thai Hot & Sour Prawn Soup)
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 4 green prawns; 1 teaspoon vegetable oil; 600ml water; ½ stalk lemongrass, chopped; 2 thin slices peeled galangal, chopped; 1 kaffir lime leaf, chopped; 3 small Thai chillies, trimmed and chopped; 3 teaspoons fish sauce, plus extra for serving; 2 shiitake or oyster mushrooms, sliced; 3 grape tomatoes, quartered; 1 lime, juiced; 2 teaspoons deep-fried garlic or shallot; 1 sprig coriander, leaves sliced; Roasted chilli powder, for serving (see video)

Hot and sour soups are a classic on Thai menus. Although the version containing prawns, tom yum goong (dtom yam gung), is perhaps the best known in Australia. ‘Tom’ simply means to boil and ‘yum’ to mix or toss together, and Thai hot and sour soups can be as basic or as complex as you care to make them. Tom yum should always taste salty, sour and hot due to the seasonings of fish sauce, lime juice and chilli and be aromatic with lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf. David Thompson, the inspiration behind all my Thai recipes, recommends squeezing the lime juice directly into the soup bowl rather than the saucepan, so it retains all its liveliness. Try a glass of Brash Higgins ZBO with this tom yum goong; the aromatic zibibbo, a relative of muscat, spent time in clay amphorae under flor to produce a white wine with the complexity to stand up to the punchy chilli, lime and fish sauce. Check out my tips on storing prawns for maximum freshness.

Serves 2 as part of a meal

Ingredients

4 medium-sized green prawns
1 teaspoon vegetable oil (5ml)
600ml water (about 2½ cups)
½ stalk lemongrass, chopped
2 thin slices peeled galangal, chopped
1 kaffir lime leaf, chopped
3 small Thai chillies, trimmed and chopped
3 teaspoons fish sauce, plus extra for serving (15ml)
2 shiitake or oyster mushrooms, sliced
3 grape tomatoes, quartered
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons deep-fried garlic or shallot
1 sprig coriander, leaves sliced
Roasted chilli powder, for serving
(see video below)

Method

Peel and devein prawns, reserving the shells and heads. Chop the meat into large chunks and set aside.
Place oil in a saucepan, add prawn shells and heads and cook over medium heat for a few minutes, crushing regularly with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, until well-coloured.
Add water, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, crushing occasionally.
Meanwhile, place lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaf and chilli in a mortar and crush into a rough paste. Set aside.
Strain prawn shells, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids.
Return liquid to a clean saucepan, add lemongrass mixture and fish sauce, bring to a simmer and cook for a couple of minutes.
Stir in mushroom, tomato, and prawn meat and simmer for a further minute or so until prawn is just opaque. Remove from heat.
Add 2 teaspoons (10ml) of the lime juice to each of 2 serving bowls then ladle soup into the bowls.
Sprinkle with coriander, crumble deep-fried garlic or shallot over the top and serve.
Serve tom yum goong with remaining lime juice, extra fish sauce, and roasted chilli powder on the side for diners to add as they wish.