Thai tom yum

Besides Sichuan hot and sour soup, there’s another Asian bowl that loves to stir things up on your tongue: Thai tom yum. Tom means soup and yum is a kind of hot and sour salad that they’re rather fond of in Thailand. Now, I haven’t been to Thailand, so I can’t promise that my version is authentic.

Bas Robben writes about the recipe in his book Zuur: “In terms of flavour, this version goes in every direction. I didn’t opt for subtle quantities, but rather a pinball machine: plenty of lime juice, a generous amount of fragrant lime leaves, generously filled with prawns, razor clams and mussels, and lots of heat. I choose to fry the aromatics first in a generous splash of oil, which does make for a somewhat fattier soup.”

Preparation

Start by making the soup base. Put all the ingredients in a food processor (or the container of your immersion blender) and pulse until you have a fine paste. Heat the chili oil with the peanut oil in a large wok or soup pot until it almost starts to smoke. Add the paste and stir-fry for 2 minutes, until the flavours are well released. Add the chicken stock and bring to the boil.

Let the soup simmer gently over medium heat for 15 minutes, then taste it. Season with the fish sauce and lime juice. It’s just like with a curry: look for a balance between salty, sour and sweet (adding a little sugar if necessary).

Stir ingredients into the soup

Turn the heat right down and stir the oyster mushrooms, prawns, razor clams, mussels and cockles into the soup. Let them cook in the hot stock for 5 minutes while you prepare 4 bowls. Ladle the soup into the bowls and divide the seafood between them.

Garnish

Garnish with some torn basil leaves, coriander leaves and spring onion. Drizzle a little extra chili oil over the top with a teaspoon.

Zuur
Bas Robben
€24.95
Good Cook