The smell of lemongrass, kefir lime leaves and galangal dispersed the air with aromatic perfume making my house feel more fresh and lively. When lime juice and fish sauce mixed in the spicy broth, it gives the signature tangy Thai flavor.
I didn’t quite get it when I found Tom Yum dishes served as soup menu in many restaurants outside Thailand. Tom Yum is not soup, it should be more likely to classify as curry or stew. Tom Yum is the firing hot and sour dish with meat or seafood swimming in the intensely flavorful broth served with rice. The authentic version doesn’t require coconut cream to thicken the soup as what is popular at the restaurants in the West. The original version is humble and easy, made with fresh herbs and simple broth flavored with fish sauce and lime juice.
I desperately missed authentic red hot Tom Yum Seafood from my mom’s kitchen. The fact that she always used homegrown herbs freshly picked 2 minutes before throwing in homemade chicken stock made it even more delicious. I can’t find even a stalk of fresh lemon grass this week but we are all craving spicy Tom Yum to be poured down our hot rice. We decided to buy an instant Tom Yum paste from the store in the city and tried to somehow adjust our despair needs of zesty Tom Yum fix.
Tom Yum Mushroom
Ingredients: (2 servings)
200 gm Button mushroom- sliced (or you can use oyster mushroom)
2 tbsp Tom Yum Paste
1/2 onion- cut into 4 parts
1 tomato- quartered
A handful celery leaves- roughly sliced
2 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp lime juice
A pinch of sugar if needed
Method:
Bring vegetable stock to boil in the medium pot.
Add onion, mushroom, tomato and Tom Yum Paste. Let it boil for a minutes and simmer for 5 minutes or until mushroom is cooked.
Add fish sauce and lime to taste. You may sprinkle a pinch of sugar in if needed.
Check the seasoning, add fresh celery leaves and serve with some cooked rice.
Though we didn’t have fresh herbs in the dish today, the aroma of my Tom Yum Mushroom spread through out the building. It was perfectly flavored and so delicious. Though it couldn’t compare authentic version which used fresh Thai herbs but we could live with it. It was so good with rice and maybe some cooked rice noodle.
