Tom Yum Soup (Print)

Vibrant Thai soup with lemongrass, lime, chiles, and fresh herbs in a perfectly balanced sour-spicy broth.

# Ingredients:

→ Broth Base

01 - 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
02 - 2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and smashed
03 - 4 kaffir lime leaves, torn
04 - 3 slices galangal or ginger
05 - 2 Thai bird's eye chiles, sliced

→ Vegetables and Aromatics

06 - 7 ounces mushrooms, sliced
07 - 2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
08 - 1 small onion, sliced
09 - 3 cloves garlic, smashed

→ Protein

10 - 10 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined or tofu

→ Seasonings and Finish

11 - 3 tablespoons fish sauce or soy sauce
12 - 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
13 - 1 teaspoon sugar
14 - 1 teaspoon chili paste, optional
15 - Fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
16 - 2 green onions, sliced
17 - Lime wedges for serving

# Directions:

01 - In a medium pot, bring stock to a gentle boil. Add lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, chiles, garlic, and onion. Simmer for 10 minutes to extract aromatic flavors.
02 - Add sliced mushrooms and tomato wedges. Cook for 5 minutes until mushrooms become tender.
03 - Add shrimp or tofu and simmer until shrimp turns pink and is cooked through, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
04 - Stir in fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and chili paste if using. Taste and adjust seasoning for salt, sourness, and heat as desired.
05 - Remove from heat. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with cilantro and green onions. Serve with lime wedges.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • The balance of sour, spicy, salty, and savory hits all at once, making your palate feel genuinely awake.
  • It comes together faster than you'd expect for something so complex and restaurant-quality.
  • One pot means less cleanup, more time savoring something genuinely comforting.
02 -
  • Don't skip the 10-minute infusion with the aromatics at the beginning; that's where the actual magic lives, not in rushing to the protein.
  • Fish sauce is polarizing until you understand it's not meant to taste like fish—it's an umami bomb that makes everything else taste more like itself.
  • Taste constantly and adjust as you go; what's perfectly balanced for one person might be too sour or not spicy enough for another, and that's completely okay.
03 -
  • Smash your aromatics roughly with the side of your knife before adding them—you want them to break apart slightly and release oils, not pulverize into nothing.
  • Keep the broth at a gentle simmer, not a rolling boil, so the delicate flavors stay bright and don't muddy together.
  • Save whole aromatics like lemongrass stalks and galangal slices on the side of your bowl for people to push aside as they eat, or strain them out before serving if you prefer a cleaner presentation.
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