Thai Tom Yum Goong Soup
Eddybles
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Printtuesday, january 15th, 2008
Hot soup is frequently the remedy of choice at this time of year in the northeast when temperatures chill the bones and wind whips the cheeks to chapped apple red. A steamy spoonful of beef stew or chicken noodle tempers winter's lashings and warms shivering extremities right up. While I'm as much a devotee to the classics as any other glaciated soul out there, I sometimes crave a bowl of soup that's a bit more luminous than the average pot of tomato or seven bean could ever hope to be. Therefore, when it's incandescence I seek on a crisp winter's day, I turn to a soup that never fails to deliver; Tom Yum Goong.
Like most Thai dishes, Tom Yum Goong soup is a nuanced harmony of flavors incorporating the five essential elements of taste that form the foundation of this complex cuisine; hot, bitter, salty, sour and sweet. Every colorful bowl of this enticing hot and sour soup delivers an intricate weave of spicy, invigorating flavor with its enlivened blend of ingredients including shrimp, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, nam prik pao (Thai red chili paste), lime juice and cilantro.
Tom Yum Goong's bright flavors appear on the palette in a succession of harmonious layers, lingering there just long enough to meld with the next. With its combination of healthy ingredients and infusion of heat married with just the right amount of salty sweetness, this soup is as fresh as it is restorative and promises to warm even the coldest belly on a brisk January day.
Shrimp Tom Yum Goong Soup
The addition of noodles is optional but I find they add a welcome density to the soup, especially on a cold winter's day. Crushed toasted peanuts are sometimes added as a garnish but I feel that the nam prik pao (roasted red chili paste) delivers enough nutty flavor. Wear gloves when slicing the Thai chilies or avoid wiping the eyes afterwards as they deliver quite a spicy bite. If less heat is desired, use fewer chillies, remove their seeds before using or use them whole and then remove just before serving. Fresh lemongrass stalks should be used as opposed to the jarred option and kaffir lime leaves can be difficult to track down but the bright-sour citrus note they add to the soup is without compare. Galangal is an earthy tasting vegetable similar to ginger and can be found in Asian specialty food markets. A resource guide follows.
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (reserve shrimp shells)
10 cups water, divided
1/2 cup peeled fresh galangal, roughly chopped
7 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves
1/2 cup peeled fresh lemongrass cut into 2 inch pieces (about 4 stalks)
1 cup shiitake or crimini mushrooms, sliced thinly
3 tablespoons nam prik pao (roasted red chili paste)
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 Thai Birdseye chilies, sliced thinly crosswise
1/2 cup green onions, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup cilantro, rinsed well and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 pound noodles such as soba, udon or cellophane (optional)
7 tablespoons dry-roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped (optional)
1. Combine reserved shrimp shells and six cups water in a heavy bottom pot; bring to a gentle simmer. Cook with the pot covered for one hour. Strain the broth through a chinois or fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Discard the solids. As the stock simmers, prepare the optional noodles as directed on packaging. Rinse noodles under cold water and reserve.
2. Combine the broth with the remaining 4 cups of water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the galangal, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass to the pan and simmer gently for fifteen minutes. Strain the broth through a chinois into a bowl and discard solids. Return the broth to the pan. Add the mushrooms, nam prik pao, fish sauce and chillies. Bring to a boil. Stir in the shrimp, green onions, cliantro and noodles, if using. Cook for three or four minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through. Stir in the fresh lime juice.
3. To serve, distribute the soup evenly amongst four warmed soup bowls. Sprinkle with the optional peanut garnish. Serve with lime wedges.