Thai hot and sour prawn soup

A simple, quick and authentic Thai soup (“tom yum goong”), this light soup should be spicy, salty and sour.

Preparation time:  Around 10 minutes

Cooking time:  Around 10 minutes

This is a recipe that I picked up from a cookery school in Thailand, and it’s so simple, my 6-year-old could help me put it together!  If you’re not a fan of prawns, you can swap them out for chicken pieces, but put the chicken in first, as it’ll take longest to cook.  Equally, I like this spicy, but if you’re not a fan you can cut down (or leave out) the chillies and/or the Thai chilli paste.

Ingredients (serves 2):

• Chicken stock – 750ml
• Baby sweetcorn – 125g, split in half
• Galangal – 8 thin slices (you can use root ginger if you can’t find galangal)
• Lemongrass – 1 stalk, cut into thin diagonal slices
• Kaffir lime leaves – 2, torn with the stem removed
• Shallots – 2, peeled and crushed
• Straw mushrooms – 100g, cut into quarters (or shitake or oyster mushrooms)
• Bird’s eye chillies – 5 (or to taste), crushed
• Tomato – 1, cut into wedges
• King prawns – 150g, peeled and deveined
• Fish sauce – 3 tbsp.
• Brown sugar – 1 tsp.
• Lime juice – 4 tbsp.
• Thai chili paste/jam (“Nam Prik Pao”) – 2 tsp. (used for sweetness and colour)
• Spring onions – 20g, cut into 1 inch lengths
• Coriander leaves – 10g, mostly coarsely chopped (save some whole for garnish)
• Milk – 4 tbsp. (optional)

Method:

1. Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a wok or similar sized saucepan.  Once boiling, add the baby sweetcorn, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, mushrooms, chillies and tomato, and simmer for around 3-4 minutes until fragrant;
2. Add the prawns, and simmer until they have changed colour (normally just another minute or two);
3. Mix the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and Thai chilli paste (if available) together then add to the wok and simmer for about 20 seconds, then add the spring onions and coriander leaves, and remove from the heat;
4. For a slightly creamier soup, add the milk off the heat and stir through, before ladling into bowls and garnishing with the last of the whole coriander leaves.

Thai hot and sour prawn soup