Thai Coconut Soup with Prawns (Tom Kha)

Tom Yum Goong, or Thai Coconut Soup with Prawns (Goong means Prawns in Thai) is a hot and sourish soup you'd love to start your Thai food with. When I first saw and learned about this soup, I was slightly reluctant to try it, as it uses santan (coconut milk) and I don't really like too much santan. However, I changed my mind the second I had my first spoonful of Tom Yum Goong. It is an excellent soup, hot and sour just the way I love it!

Quite frankly, in my personal opinion, it tastes very similar to the more common Tom Yum despite the rich santan ingredient. It all lies in its main lovely ingredients: lengkuas (galangal), serai (lemongrass), lemon juice and fresh coriander roots. These combined, gives the fresh zesty taste whilst the santan adds a cream comfort touch to the soup. Other essential ingredients includes green or red bird's eye chili (or any spicy chili), kaffir lime leaves and some mushrooms would be good (all of which can be found as dried condiments in the supermarkets).

Though it is not very commonly sold outside of Thai restaurants, it is very simple to make anytime so long as you have the key ingredients (as mentioned in above paragraph) at home.

This is an overdue post which I should have put up on my blog 2 weeks back. Well, it's the year end and I've been pretty occupied with travels and social events till now, but here I am, stealing a little time to blog about something new :-) So here is another one of my favourite Thai food recipes for you.
:: Tom Kha (Prawns) Recipe ::
Serves 2

2 cups water
6 large fresh prawns, trimmed but keep its shells & tails on
3 slices fresh lengkuas (galangal)
1 serai (lemongrass), pounded once or twice
1 bunch fresh coriander sprigs (leaves for garnishing)
2 green cili padi or 1 red hot chili, slice the middle part
3 medium kaffir lime leaves, sliced or whole
150gm Enoki mushrooms (or any other type)
50gm santan (coconut milk)
3 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce

On a medium heat, boil 2 cups of water with galangal, lemongrass, coriander roots. Let it simmer for 10 minutes to extract the flavours of the galangal and lemongrass.

Then throw in chilis, lime leaves, lemon juice, and fish sauce. Stir to combine then pour in the coconut juice, start with smaller portions and ad as desired (as some may prefer more or less santan).

As prawns and Enoki mushrooms cook in a short time, add them both just before the soup is ready to be served, and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.

Transfer to the serving bowls, garnish with the coriander leaves and serve while it is still warm.

Tom Yum Goong is served as a starter, or compliments most Asian main course dishes. I love having this during colder days when warm hot and sour soup just warms me up. Comfort food :-)