Tom Yum Goong (Tom Yum Kung)

Tom yum goong, or tom yum kung, is a popular sort of Thai soup. It is not mild like regular soups, but is spicy, hot and sour. It is mainly made using prawns. Prawns are called Goong or Kung in Thai. Contents like tamarind and lemon offer it the distinct sour flavor. Other ingredients like chilli pepper and pepper corns make it hot and spicy.

The most important ingredient of this soup is prawns. Wash the prawns first and remove their heads and shells, but don’t remove the tails. Heads and shells will be used to make stock, so don’t throw them away immediately. With the help of a knife, carefully remove the veins of the prawns.

Then you prepare the stock for the Tom yum goong, or tom yum kung soup. Then you have to sauté the heads and shells of the prawns in a tablespoon of oil . They will turn deep orange after about 10 minutes, meaning they are done. They are to be added 3/4th cup of water and 2 tablespoons of red curry paste after that. Now the mixture will be reduced in volume; but we want to make broth of it, so a jug of water should be added to it so that its volume will be increased. Allow the mixture to boil for 20 minutes. Keep the liquid which we need to prepare the soup, and now you can throw away the heads and shells. Drain the liquid to separate them.

Now other ingredients like 2 tablespoons of processed tamarind, 2 teaspoons of turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon of finely cut red chillies and 5 shredded kafir lime leaves are to be added. Prawns are not to be added at this stage. After boiling the mixture for another 2-3 minutes, add the prawns. You will have to boil the mixture for 5 to 6 minutes more so that the prawns are cooked well. Their light pink color will show that they are ready. You can now turn the heat off.

Some more contents are to be added now. The additional ingredients are 2 tablespoons of soft brown sugar and 3 teaspoons of lime juice and 3 teaspoons of fish sauce. By tossing or stirring, mix these contents well with the previous mixture. And there you are! Serve immediately with a garnishing of coriander leaves.

In order to make the red curry paste, grind together 12 dry red chillies soaked in hot water, 3 tablespoons of chopped shallot, 4 tablespoons of chopped garlic, a tablespoon of chopped galangal, 2 tablespoons of chopped lemon grass, 2 teaspoons of chopped kafir lime rind, a tablespoon of chopped coriander root and 20 pepper corns in mortar or blender to a fine paste. To this, add a teaspoon of cumin and a tablespoon of coriander seeds, roasted for 3-4 minutes and a teaspoon of shrimp paste. Here we give an additional tip to make your soup tastier. Wrap the shrimp paste in a foil and keep it in the grill for 2 to 3 minutes. After half this time, turn it upside down, so as to ensure thorough grilling. Add this grilled shrimp paste to the red curry paste. It will give it an additional flavor. A fine paste should be made of all these ingredients. Store this paste in an air-tight glass jar and keep it in refrigerator, which will enable you to use it for 2-3 months to make delicious Tom yum goong, or tom yum kung soup.