Ramblings from a voracious eater
on the dish that made her day
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| A quick bowl of steaming Tom Yum soup |
Today, supper is a Thai Tom Yum soup - a warming furnace that sets
innards alight; igniting the body with its head-clearing properties. The broth
itself is clean and wholesome, but when you add those classic four flavours -
sweet, salty, hot and sour - right at the end, the soup is transformed into
something spectacular. Most enjoyable is the rasp of chilli that hits the back
of your throat just when you least expect it.
I had some chicken bones in the freezer that I used to make a
quick stock, but if you have ready made stock, this soup for two can be cooked
in ten minutes.
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| Tom Yum ingredients: coriander, lemongrass, chilli, ginger, kaffir lime leaves |
Simply heat up a litre of light chicken stock until boiling. Turn
the the stock down to a simmer and add all the fragrants: a stick of
lemongrass, a few slices of ginger, a few slices of galangal (or a teaspoon of
paste), a handful of coriander stems and 2 or 3 kaffir lime leaves - all
bruised slightly with a pestle. The flavours will infuse perfectly after a 5
minute simmer.
Fish out the spices, add a big handful of king prawns and cook
until pink. Turn off the heat add some splashes of fish sauce, a teaspoon of
palm sugar, a generous squeeze of lime and plenty of sliced chilli (birdseye is
the best - and as much as you can manage) - enough to blast through the
February chill. Garnish with coriander leaves and a slices of spring
onion.
Serve with rice and feel restored.
Serve with rice and feel restored.
Other Tom Yum recipes
I'm a big fan of Felicity Cloake's 'Perfect' series. Read about
her perfect Tom Yum soup here.
Andrew Kojima's version for the Telegraph is
quick and easy.
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