Tom Yum Soup

A hot and sour, Thai seafood soup
Ingredients (for four people)
1/2 kilo fresh mussels (uncooked)
1/2 kilo fresh tiger prawns (cooked)
100g fresh galangal
10g fresh birdseye chillies
2 medium-sized tomatoes
1 medium-sized red onion
2 cups of straw or button mushrooms
150g Tom Yum paste
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
2 stalks of lemongrass
5 kaffir lime leaves (fresh if possible)
Juice of 1 lime
Chilli paste to taste
50g fresh coriander
3 stalks of spring onions
1.5 liters of boiling water
Preparation method
Prepare all vegetables before you do anything else.
Galangal: peel and then chop into coins
Chilli: de-seed and chop into coins
Lemon grass: tie into knots
Mussels: clean shells
Prawns: de-shell and de-vein
Other ingredients: chop roughly
Tom Yum Soup
Cooking
Bring water to the boil
Add Tom Yum paste, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and corriander. Boil for a 5 minutes.
Add mussels and cook until they open (about 5 minutes or so)
Add all other ingredients, except coriander and prawns.
Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes
Add coriander and prawns, serve soon afterwards.
Serving
Remove kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and galangal as these are inedible
Ladle soup into bowls and place a sprig of fresh coriander leaf on top
Serve piping hot.

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