My Big Fat Stomach
...or I guess more aptly Sam Yum Soup
There's a lot of recipes out there for Tom Yum Soup and I've tried most of them. I finally came up with a recipe of my own that combines a bunch of them. What you'll need:
One Chicken to make 4-1/2 quarts of broth (Separate meat after making broth and set aside)
3 stalks lemon grass pummeled and beaten
6-8 kaffir lime leaves torn
4-6 cloves of garlic grated of finely chopped
1-1/2 tbsp Galangal root very finely grated or sliced. (sub ginger if you can’t get galangal)
1 whole shallot grated, chopped or sliced (optional)
½ pound cherry tomatoes halved or 1 can of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp tamarind paste (optional)
1 teaspoon palm sugar (sub cane if you can't get it)
¾ pound of shrimp
½ pound of scallops (optional)
8-12 tbsp of fish sauce
3 limes juiced (about 3-4 tbsp) (optional)
3/4lb of king mushrooms
12-16 thai chili peppers
2-3 cans of Coconut Milk
Optional – Pepper to taste
Optional – chopped cilantro
What to do: Make the chicken broth. If you can get a whole chicken from your local farmer or local Asian market that's what I'd recommend. The feet and head of the chicken add some great flavor to the broth plus the chicken makes a great puppet to entertain the kids before dinner, but it's not necessary if it grosses you out. Also I usually just use the dark meat (it's plenty for the recipe) and set the white meat aside for something else. Regardless of chicken type you will want to add the torn kaffir lime leaves, abused lemon grass, minced garlic, minced shallot,shredded galangal root (or ginger), and 3-4 Thai chillies torn in half. After your broth is ready remove the chicken. Let the chicken cool and then remove and dice the meat to add back in at the end. Leave all the other stuff in there. You can also make a broth with your shrimp if you boil at this point, set the shrimp aside when it's cooked, and use the left over water as a shrimp broth (I usually only do this if I'm making a leaner soup and not adding coconut milk in the end). Next you'll add the sliced king oyster mushrooms, tomatoes, tamarind paste (break it up), palm sugar, lime juice and 8-10 tbsp of fish sauce. Bring everything to boil, then turn temp down to low and let the soup simmer for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes turn the heat back up to high and add the shrimp, scallops and the rest of the chilies (halved or whole). Once the soup boils add the chicken meat from earlier and turn the heat down to low. Finally you'll add your coconut milk, stirring it in slowly. Let soup sit at low for 5-10 minutes and then taste for saltiness. If soup is not salty enough add more fish sauce and if you want add ground pepper at this point. You can pick out the lemon if you want, but I like to leave it in as long as possible to add to the flavor. Put the soup in a bowl and sprinkle with some cilantro. Enjoy your Sam Yum Soup.