…… hot, sweet and spicy Tom Yum soup. I’ve nicked this completely from the Guardian’s food recipes bit:
Photograph: Felicity Cloake
Felicity’s perfect tom yum soup. Hot, fragrant and sour is how I like my tom yum, so I’ll be sticking to the basics, with savoury fish sauce for depth and MiMi’s palm sugar for balance. The only slightly unorthodox ingredient I’ve given house room is galangal, a root which looks like ginger, but tastes far more peppery. I think it works really well with the fresh chilli, but if you can’t find it (big supermarkets often sell it dried, if you don’t have an Asian specialist handy), then I wouldn’t feel too bad about leaving it out – the soup could still blow your head off.
Serves 4
16 raw shell-on king prawns
Dash of oil
4 lime leaves, roughly torn
2 lemongrass stalks, cut into 5cm pieces and crushed
2 slices galangal (optional)
2 bird’s eyes chillies, finely sliced
1 tbsp palm sugar
Juice of 1½ limes
2 tbsp fish sauce
Handful of coriander or Thai basil leaves, torn, to serve
1. Shell the prawns and set the meat aside. Heat the oil in a pan on a medium-high flame, and fry the shells until pink. Add 1 litre of water and bring to a simmer, then strain and discard the shells.
2. Return the prawn stock to a clean pan, and add the lime leaves, lemongrass and galangal. Bring to a simmer and leave to infuse for 5 minutes, then add the chillies and simmer for another couple of minutes.
3. Add the prawns and cook through until pink, then take off the heat and stir in the sugar, lime juice and fish sauce. Taste for seasoning, and then pour into bowls. Garnish with coriander or basil and serve immediately.
I missed out the palm sugar, and bunged in some very finely cut shallots. It’s bloody hot (and I don’t mean in coking temperature) and sweet and a bit sour all at the same time. It’s absolutely fantastic for a cold crappy February evening.
