tom yum goong- the fresh, bright, bold flavors of thailand

the taste of thailand: fresh! thai basil, mint, cilantro, kaffir lime leaves, thai chilies, lemongrass, galangal, coconut milk and tangy fish sauce. the list goes on and on of sweet, salty, sour, super fresh ingredients that attack the senses and make you sweat with pleasure. a lot of us have only enjoyed thai cuisine in restaurants without ever thinking of trying to duplicate these flavors at home. i, like most of you out there, am a self-trained cook. many of the recipes in our fish report are interpretations of dishes from other lands. trying to exactly duplicate recipes that are ancient and deeply rooted in people’s cultures probably just isn’t going to happen, but does that mean we shouldn’t try? heck no!

drawing by mike monahan

today’s hot and sour shrimp soup (tom yum goong) has lots of variations, even in thailand. some cooks use homemade stock, some use whole shrimp, some just tails and some add condensed milk. i used whole wild gulf shrimp and they added a lot of flavor. some recipes call for removing shrimp heads, pieces of lemon grass and galangal before serving. we like to suck the flavor from the heads and the delicious debris is easy to eat around.

this fairly easy to make, healthy soup will surely make your life a bit warmer on chilly nights!