Gweilo Tom Yum Goong

by Charlie McCarthy, Sr.

Ingredients

Clear Version

  1. Put the chicken stock in a pot to boil.
  2. Slice about 10 limes and juice them all into a small bowl, and set them aside for later.
  3. Take your stalks of lemongrass, tear off the outermost leaf and throw it out. Then lightly pound the lemongrass to release the flavors. Then just slice it diagonally into 1 inch strips.
  4. Take about 1 thumb-sized chunk of the root part of galangal, and chop it into slices.
  5. Coarsely break about 10 kaffir lime leaves - just tear them to help release their flavor.
  6. Peel about 5 cloves of garlic. Take 10 Thai bird chilies and tear off the stem and give them a little pound. Remove the seeds if you like the chili flavor but not as much heat.
  7. Add about 3 heaping tablespoons of Thai roasted chili sauce (nam prik pao นํ้าพริกเผา) to your soup and stir it in. Now throw the lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, garlic and chilies into the water. You can put on the lid just so it starts to boil and release all the herb flavors quicker.
  8. Boil your soup with all the herbs in it for about 10 minutes, then toss in the shrimp or chicken and turn burner to low.
  9. Then add your mushrooms. Take the tomatoes and two small white onions and slice them into wedges - you want them to be big and chunky. Then add them to the pot. Boil the tom yum for about 2 - 3 minutes.
  10. Next, add about 6 tablespoons of fish sauce first, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. You may need more of each, but start with that. Boil your tom yum for another minute or so and then turn off the heat. You don’t want your tom yum to be overcooked. The mushrooms and onions should be soft, and then it’s ready.
  11. Once your heat is off, go back to your lime juice and add about 8 tablespoons of lime juice (depending on how sour you like it, I like it really sour).
  12. Make sure you taste test until your tom yum is perfectly sour and salty. You might need to add more fish sauce, sugar, or lime juice.
  13. Finally chop up a handful of fresh cilantro, throw it in the soup, and give your tom yum a final stir. The lime juice and cilantro taste fresher and more vibrant when not boiled, so that’s why I turn off the heat before adding them. You now have Tom Yum Goong nam sai, the clear version of tom yum.

Creamy Tom Yum Goong

  1. Add about 10 tablespoons of evaporated milk.
  2. At this stage, you’ll need to taste test and evaluate. The roasted chili sauce and creaminess from the evaporated milk will alter the flavors from the clear version, so you might need more lime juice and more fish sauce. Just keep taste testing until it’s exactly how you like it.
  3. And there you have the creamy version of tom yum.

Enjoy!