Tom yum is a type of sour-spicy, sweet-salty soup, usually cooked with shrimp. Tom yum has its origin in Thailand, and you get a true taste of Thailand in every bowl. Tom yum means, “boiled salad” which basically defines a highly flavored broth. Goong is the shrimp (or prawn) popular substitutions include although chicken or pork.

I probably had my first taste of Tom Yum soup at Noodi Bar in Media PA. It was the first Thai restaurant I went to that was authentic Thai. During our trip to Thailand in 2017, our first night out on the town, Erika ordered Tom Yum soup and I ordered green curry with chicken. Her soup was delicious.

In preparation to make this dish I found a recipe that looked authentic. It required purchasing some unusual ingredients ahead of time. Thank goodness for amazon.com. I bought kaffir leaves, dried galangal root, Thai peppers, and Nam Prik Poa (Thai chili paste). Mom was responsible for making the shrimp stock. She attempted to find shrimp with heads on by calling local seafood markets, but nobody has them. That didn’t stop her though. She made the stock with shrimp shells. We didn’t realize at the time, but that was probably the most work intensive part of the entire meal.

To prepare the meal, we put the shrimp stock in a pot, added the ingredients above along with Oyster mushrooms, lemon grass, and brought it to a boil. We were concerned there wasn’t enough shrimp stock, so we added some fish stock to increase the volume. Then we added shrimp, fish sauce, and lime juice. Once the shrimp was cooked, he added lime juice and cilantro for garnish ladled into a bowl and sat down for lunch.

I was concerned it would be too spicy for mom, but she said it was not. I did reduce the number of peppers called for. It’s still made our noses run, but it was not too spicy. There was no spices from a bottle added, but it had a depth the flavor that was quite delicious.

Would I make it again? Yes absolutely. It was so easy to make it was ridiculous. Altogether it took less than 30 minutes, probably more like 15 if you don’t count the shrimp stock.