A Recipe to Heal Wanderlust: Tom Yum Soup
I haven’t written about this quite yet as I was still somewhat grieving but back in February I booked a one-way flight to Bangkok for a several month backpacking trip. It was something I had wanted to do for years now, something has been drawing me to that region for a long time. Not quite allowing myself to consider the possibility of having to cancel due to coronavirus, when many South East Asian countries shut their borders and went into lock down as was the case in Canada, I was not quite blindsided but definitely gutted. I had quit my job, started saying my goodbyes, my backpack was even half-packed already. Mentally, I had been ready to leave, explore, try new things, eat deliciously exotic foods, and get lost for a while.
But luckily I bounced back pretty quickly - if it can’t happen now, hopefully it will happen later. I am excited for spring and summer weather in Canada, I love gardening at my lovely home in the city, and I was able to secure my job back again which means I can earn a little bit of extra cash before leaving to spend on some wishlist items (a blog post to come on that shortly!). So, positive attitude remains intact!
I decided - if I can’t experience the culture of Vietnam or Thailand or Indonesia in those places, maybe I can try experiencing them here, at home. For me, one of the most essential pieces to a culture is the cuisine. So that’s where I would start… with learning a recipe unique to the countries I’ve been so eager to visit. First on the list? Tom Yum soup. Tom Yum soup is a quintessential Thai recipe, with a uniquely Thai balance of flavours - sweet, spicy, herbaceous, citrusy goodness. I’m no expert but I managed to cobble together a recipe, from various sources with different instructions, based on the ingredients I had available to me. There are definitely some tougher-to-come-by ingredients in this soup but my recipe is made with easy alternatives. And do you know what? It turned out pretty awesome and will definitely be a new staple recipe! I think it’s also a great soup for your immune system given all the healthy ingredients - ginger, coconut, lime, garlic - a bonus these days!
What You Need (ingredients listed in order of need):
6 cups chicken stock
2 stalks lemongrass (minced)
5 average sized cloves garlic (minced)
3 tablespoons onion (minced)
6 teaspoons ginger (a substitute for galangal)
3 bay leaves (a substitute for kaffir)
3 teaspoons lime juice (to make up for using bay leaves instead of kaffir)
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 carrot (thickly sliced)
2 cups mushrooms of choice (I like either button mushrooms halved or portobellos cut into chunks)
3 chili peppers
1 cup cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
20 medium shrimp (raw, shells removed)
1 can coconut milk (adding more or less to taste)
1/3 cup fresh coriander
1) Start with a chicken stock - I made my own using the bones of a grocery store rotisserie chicken using this recipe, method 1, but you can also just use a pre-made stock or bouillon cube. Bring to a slight boil.
2) From there, add your lemongrass, ginger, garlic, onion, bay leaves, and lime juice, boiling for 5 minutes to soften the lemongrass and then lowering to a simmer.
3) Add your soy sauce and fish sauce, as well as the carrots and mushrooms. Continue simmering until carrots are soft. More fish sauce can be added if your base needs a little more salt.
4) Add the chili peppers - I typically add two full, unchopped ones straight to the soup, and then mince a third and stir in, including seeds.
5) Add the cherry tomatoes and simmer until they are soft and cooked through. I always add the tomatoes later than the other vegetables because tomatoes slow the cooking process.
6) Once your base and veggies are all in, you can add the shrimp. Stir until they turn solid white and pink stripes - this will usually take about 4-5 minutes depending on how many you add.
7) Lastly, once the shrimp are cooked, stir in a can of coconut milk to thicken the broth and add a classic Thai flavour profile. It can also soften the spice of the chilis if you added too many.
8) I typically stir in about a quarter of a cup coriander directly into the soup and keep the other quarter as a garnish for serving.
9) Voila! A taste of Thailand in your own home kitchen. Enjoy!
