Yum yum tom yam

When I was little, the rhyme of choice for "yum yum" was always "pig's bum".  The humour stemmed, of course, from the dual naughtiness of the word 'bum' (ooh-er missus!) together with the inherent ridiculousness of the idea that a bum was something you'd ever consider in the food context.  Older, wiser and more humourless (less humourful?), I now consider pork butt (which, ok, isn't actually a pig's bum anyway but let's not worry about that now; some day I will post about my glorious slow-cooked-BBQ-pulled-pork recipe and you will forget such anatomical pedantry) to be a god-given gift of deliciousness when cooked right.  I've also, however, discovered other sources of yum-yum that deserve to be credited as such.  One of these is Thai hot and sour soup... otherwise known as Tom Yam.

I posted a few months ago about a quick'n'dirty recipe for Chinese style hot and sour soup (suan-la-tang, in my appallingly bad pinyin rendering), and commented that the Thai-style version just required too much effort to make when one is sick.

Well, one has been sick again (GAH!) but is able to take some consolation in being able to report that (YAY!) provided that one has some frozen stock (thank you Christmas turkey) and other necessary ingredients on hand, Thai-style hot&sour soup actually requires very little effort to pull together.  If you just happen to have some lovely aromatic Asian ingredients in the fridge and some vegetables in the crisper, then having some prawns in the freezer becomes virtually optional.

And yeah, I went to Chinatown to buy the lemongrass.  It's just round the corner.  I have no excuses.

Thai-Style Hot & Sour Soup
Note: This is just about as inauthentic a recipe for Tom Yam soup as you can get.  I know smushing the ingredients into a paste isn't the recommended method; I know you should use galangal instead of ginger; and I'm pretty sure turkey stock is in no way authentic.  Cut me some slack; I'm sick!

1 small red onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic
2-inch piece of ginger
1-2 red chillies (depending on hotness, to taste), roughly chopped
3 sticks lemongrass, tender part chopped, tops reserved
6-10 kaffir lime leaves, roughly torn
1.5-2L stock (I used turkey.  YMMV.)

Blend onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and lemongrass into a rough paste.  Heat a drizzle of oil in a medium saucepan; fry paste and lime leaves gently, stirring, until fragrant (a couple of minutes).  Add stock and bring to a gentle simmer; season to taste as below.

To season:
fish sauce
lime juice
white sugar
(chicken stock powder)
(bottled tom yam paste)

The idea is to balance the salty, sour and sweet flavours (it should already be adequately hot from the chilli but if not then you can add extra) together with the umami taste.  Fish sauce is somewhat umami but is quite salty; if you find the soup needs some extra zing! then it's not cheating (really!) to use a dash of chicken powder; and I usually add a teaspoon to a tablespoon of bottled tom yam paste, just to intensify the flavour.  Add a bit of sugar to taste, just until it really brings out the salty and sour flavours (I usually find about a tablespoon is enough) and squeeze in fresh lime juice (one or two should do it).

For each serve
4-6 prawns
handful beansprouts
handful mushrooms (I used enoki, just because I love them)
chopped coriander
chopped fresh chilli
lime wedges
chilli oil

To prepare soup for serving: add prawns, heat gently to a simmer and cook until prawns are pink and just opaque all the way through; remove prawns to serving bowl(s). Add beansprouts and mushrooms, heat for a couple of minutes until wilted.  Ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle coriander and chilli on top, squeeze in a bit of extra lime if you think it necessary and add a dollop of chilli oil (roasted by preference) to deepen the flavour and increase the heat.

Slurp and enjoy!