Tom Yum Soup with shrimps by Mr.Bean (icq#25451702)

Copied from modern thailand, as eaten by the thai themselves, not a stupid receipe with prefab pastes, not a fancy restaurant thing..
HOT!!! sour and salty.
One of my favorites.
Not a lot of work, but you need some special stuff..

This is for about 1.5-2L of soup,
Serves 2-4 as main dish
Serves 4-8 as as entrée

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6" (or 8" if bad quality) galangal root, fresh
(and 2" ginger root fresh, can be omitted)
3 sticks lemongrass
30 fresh thai bird chilies, or bird's eye chillies (stems off)
(very small ones <1", preferrably red)
(the red ones are easier to find in your soup ;)
(6 fresh Kaffir lime leaves if you like, i do without)
1 lime
1 tablespoon salt !
1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder (for color)
fresh coriander leaf
A bit of soy or peanut oil to stir fry with.
(these oils can withstand a lot of heat)

A choice of vegetables each 100-200g:
My favorites:
1 union
bean sprouts
snow peas or green beans / snap beans
baby corn (in can)
Also possible:
Carrot, strips.
Bamboo sprouts, strips (in can)
Summer squash (Italian marrow / zucchini)
Any vegetable that keeps a bit of bite when stir fried.

Some mushrooms (my favorites here)
4-5 big white mushrooms (or more when smaller), 1/3-1/4" thick slices
Handfull of dried wood ear mushroom / cloud ear mushroom.
- Put dried ones in cold water to well before you start.
- Crush the big ones when still dry.
- Don't overdo they get BIGGER when welled.

20 big (3") shrimps with tail (cooked, frozen, thaw slowly in lukewarm water)
(Soup can also be made with chicken)

Serve with Thai jasmine rice (or pandanrice)




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Put 3/4 of a litre of hot water in soup pan on a low fire.

Clean galangal (and ginger) root and slice thin.
(should give off taste, to tough to eat)
Throw in soup pan to simmer (lid on).
Peel outer 2 or 3 layers from lemmongrass sticks and chop off top and bottom end.
Contuse a bit to better able it to give off taste.
Chop in 1.5" pieces and throw in pan.

Clean union but leave root end mostly on.
Slice union bottom to top (parts) so that they stay intact.
Stir fry, hot&fast with a bit of oil until they just start to get burnt.
Throw them in the soup pan.

Sqeeze bird chilies lightly with flat side of knife, do not damage them.
(seeds should stay in)
In soup also.
Keep soup just below/slightly boiling.

(Throw in Kaffir lime leaves now if you like, i do without)

Stir fry white mushroom slices quick. Add to soup.

Stir fry (not canned ones) and add other vegetables, most tender one last.
Don't fry bean sprouts ;) add them last.

Grate off green peel (outside) of lime, in soup.
Sqeeze out lime juice and add also.
Add 1 tablespoon (!) salt.
Add 1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder.

Add welled ear mushrooms and beans sprouts.
Add shrimps.
Boil for 1 minute.

Soup should be clear and not too crowded with vegetables.
Add hot water if too crowded.

Put soup in bowls and add plenty cut coriander leaf on top.
Serve with small plate of rice.
(The thai put the rice in a small bowl which is then placed upsidedown on the plate, to make a nice shape.)

Do not slurp! It will leave you coughing from the capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) ;D

Galangal (and ginger) root, lemongrass sticks, kaffir leaves and chillies not to be eaten!
If you find picking these out of your soup too much labour, you can put them in an open-cloth bag in the soup.
Easier to remove but less authentic ;)

Bon apetit! (If you sweat, thats normal :)
Having this as brunch at 10:30am made me resistant to the thai climate (70%RH, 28Celsius) for the rest of the day.