Description
Make a flavorful Tom Yum Soup at home. This recipe balances spicy, sour, and savory tastes using essential Thai aromatics. Choose clear broth or add coconut milk for a creamy version.
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, or 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced
- 2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and bruised
- 1 inch galangal, sliced
- 6 kaffir lime leaves, torn
- 2-3 Thai chilies, crushed (adjust to heat preference)
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 cup straw mushrooms or button mushrooms, halved
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (optional, for creamy version)
- 2 tablespoons chili paste in oil (Nam Prik Pao)
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Pour the broth into a medium pot and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Add the bruised lemongrass, sliced galangal, and torn kaffir lime leaves to the boiling broth. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes to infuse the flavor.
- Add the shrimp or chicken to the pot. Cook until the shrimp turn pink or the chicken is cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in the crushed Thai chilies, fish sauce, lime juice, and brown sugar. Taste the broth and adjust the sourness (lime) or saltiness (fish sauce) as needed.
- Add the mushrooms and chili paste in oil. If you prefer a creamy soup, stir in the coconut milk now. Heat through but do not boil after adding coconut milk.
- Remove the lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves before serving, or leave them in for presentation (instruct guests not to eat them).
- Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish generously with fresh cilantro.
Notes
- For a vegetarian version, substitute vegetable broth and use firm tofu instead of meat. Replace fish sauce with soy sauce or vegetarian fish sauce.
- If you cannot find galangal, use ginger, but the flavor profile will change slightly.
- To make this a noodle soup, add cooked rice noodles to the serving bowls before pouring the hot soup over them.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop Simmering
- Cuisine: Thai
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 4
- Sodium: 850
- Fat: 5
- Saturated Fat: 3
- Unsaturated Fat: 2
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 10
- Fiber: 1
- Protein: 24
- Cholesterol: 150