Are you looking for delicious and easy-to-make Thai soup? Well, look no further! This tom yum soup recipe is a perfect blend of spicy, sour, and savory flavors that come together in just 30 minutes. It fills your kitchen with a beautiful coziness that only homemade food can bring. When the cold creeps in and you just want something steaming hot to warm your belly up, this is the dish to make.
What Does Tom Yum Taste Like
Tom Yum is a type of Thai soup that has a distinct spicy, tangy, and sour mix of flavors. It is often made with a base of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and chilies. The soup also usually contains fish sauce, seafood, mushrooms, and other ingredients such as tomatoes, cilantro, or lime juice.
The harmonious combination of spices, herbs, proteins, and veggies creates a unique taste that’s laced with an aromatic undertone. Tom Yum is often served with steamed white rice or noodles to balance out the intense flavors.
It's sometimes mistaken for Tom Kha soup, which also has a spicy, creamy taste and fragrant undertone. However, while Tom Kha has a coconut milk base, Tom Yum derives its flavors primarily from lemongrass and other Thai food essential herbs.
Is Our Recipe Healthy?
With a balanced amount of proteins, vegetables, and herbs, this soup makes a healthy addition to your meal rotations. Each serving offers around 464 calories and 35 g protein while saturated fat and sodium are limited to 8 g and 575 mg, respectively.
The protein comes primarily from the shrimp, which also offers various vitamins and minerals that may help lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and many more. Accompanying the shrimp are tomatoes, which are rich in lycopene—a powerful antioxidant that has been shown to be associated with a decreased risk of chronic diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Ingredients You Will Need
Our tom yum soup recipe requires:
- Shrimp: Normally, we would peel the whole shrimp and discard the shell, but this time, let’s keep the head. We will use the heads to make a flavorful shrimp broth for our soup.
- Coconut milk: This ingredient is what gives our soup its signature rich, subtly sweet, and floral flavor.
- Aromatics: For this recipe, we use minced garlic and galangal (an aromatic root vegetable), along with chopped onions and lemongrass.
- Vegetables: We use tomatoes, onions, and white mushrooms to keep things simple while giving the soup some flavor and texture. Feel free to add anything else you like.
- Seasonings: We use fish sauce, salt, black pepper, brown sugar, and red curry paste to enhance the soup’s savory and intense taste. We also add paprika and chili powder for that classic Thai food heat.
- Lime: Since this is a hot and sour soup, lime juice is a must-have ingredient. In addition to the sourness, it brings a zesty brightness to the overall flavor profile.
- Rice: A side of warm, steamed white rice will round out this dish and make it a lot more filling, as well as mellow out any harsh flavor edges.
- Garnishes: We sprinkle chiffonade lime leaves and roughly chopped fresh parsley over the soup as a garnish, giving an extra depth of flavor. We also add a few strips of red jalapeño pepper on top for a contrast of color.
Can You Use Ginger Instead of Galangal?
The answer is yes! Ginger has a similar peppery and aromatic flavor profile to galangal, so it can be used as an alternative when making Tom Yum. However, keep in mind that the flavor will be slightly different since it doesn’t have the same citrusy, piney notes. So if you're looking for an authentic taste, make sure to get some galangal!
Can You Make This Soup with Other Meats?
Although the main source of protein for today’s tom yum soup recipe is shrimp, chicken or fish is also a great replacement:
- Chicken: We recommend using boneless, skinless chicken thighs as it is more tender and flavorful than breast. Also, since you’re not using shrimp and can’t make shrimp broth, you need to use unsalted chicken broth instead of water to make the soup more flavorful.
- Fish: Tilapia is a common ingredient in Southeast Asian cuisine so it would be perfect for this recipe. If you can’t find this fish at your local grocery store, cod or halibut are the best substitutes. Also, swap your water for fish or vegetable stock.
If you happen to be a Thai food enthusiast or just simply looking to expand your culinary horizon, we’ve got a few more Thai dishes for you to try out. Check them out if you’re interested in hearty, flavorful, and fragrant dishes:
- Thai Noodle Soup: Lemongrass, ginger, galangal, cilantro, and basil boost this Thai Noodle Soup and make it a spicy dish that will captivate your taste buds from the very first taste.
- Thai Chicken: Our Thai chicken recipe showcases Thai cuisine's bold flavors by pairing succulent, marinated chicken thighs with rice and pickled vegetables.
- Thai Basil Beef: Also known as Pad Gra Prow, this is a popular Thai street food that is loaded with juicy ground beef, crispy stir-fried veggies, and a flavorful dark sauce. Our recipe turns it into an easy, 20-minute dish that’s perfect for all your weeknight dinners.
- Thai Chicken Curry: This dish is a creamy, fragrant, and bold collision of Thai flavors that will bring a whole lot of excitement and warmth to all your meals.
Storing and Reheating
Storing
Transfer any leftover tom yum soup to airtight containers, leave it uncovered, and allow it to cool for 30 minutes. Then, tightly seal the lids and refrigerate the soup. Once refrigerated, the soup will be good for up to five days.
Freezing is another preservation method we utilize. You can make a large quantity of soup, allow it to cool, transfer it to Ziploc bags or airtight containers, and freeze it. Make sure not to fill it all the way and leave some room for expansion. Your soup should last up to three months when frozen.
Reheating
- Utilize the microwave: Depending on the wattage of your microwave, microwave the soup for two to five minutes until thoroughly heated.
- Simmer the soup in a saucepan: If you simmer your soup for five minutes over medium heat, it should become warm and delicious again.
Note that if you’re reheating frozen soup, allow it to thaw overnight in the refrigerator or defrost it in the microwave beforehand.
What to Serve With
In Southeast Asian cuisine, rich soups and curries are often served with rice or noodles so we included a side of warm, steamed medium-grain rice. That being said, rice noodles or egg noodles are also great alternatives.
If a bowl of hot and sour soup and rice isn’t enough to make you feel full, throw in a side salad like this Thai Mango Salad to diversify the palate and round out the meal.
How to make Tom Yum Soup
Want a taste of Southeast Asia cuisine? Our tom yum soup recipe offers you a flavorful trip to the land of hearty, spicy flavors with every smoking hot spoonful.
- cook TIME 20 mins
- prep TIME 10 mins
- total TIME 30 mins
- COURSE Main dish
- CUISINE Thai
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 464 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 20 oz raw shrimp (peeled but keep the heads)
- 6 oz tomato (sliced into wedges)
- 6 oz white mushroom (sliced)
- 1 oz lemongrass (sliced)
- 0.5 oz galangal (sliced)
- 2 oz onion (sliced)
- 1 tbsp garlic (minced)
- 1 oz red jalapeno (sliced)
- 1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
- 6 lime leaves
- 2 cups water
- 2 tbsp canola oil (divided)
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp red curry paste
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp brown sugar
- 3 cups cooked medium-grain rice (unenriched)
INSTRUCTIONS
Sauté the aromatics: Heat up 1 tbsp canola oil in a small pot over medium heat. Add 1 oz lemongrass, 0.5 oz galangal, and 1 tbsp minced garlic. Stir quickly for 1 minute until slightly fragrant.
Sauté the shrimp heads: Add the shrimp heads to the pot and stir quickly for 2 minutes.
Boil the shrimp heads: Add 2 cups water to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Once bubbling, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove the shrimp heads and broth: Use tongs, a spider strainer, or a slotted spoon to fish all the shrimp heads out, then transfer the broth into a bowl.
Cook the shrimp: Heat up the remaining 1 tbsp canola oil in a deep pan. Add 20 oz shrimp, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 tsp red curry paste, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Cook and stir for 3 minutes.
Cook the mushroom: Add 6 oz white mushroom to the pan. Continue cooking and stirring for another 3 minutes.
Cook the soup: Add the shrimp broth, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 2 oz onion, 6 lime leaves, and 6 oz tomato to the pan. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes over high heat.
Add the fish sauce: Add 1/2 tsp fish sauce and give the soup a stir. Taste and adjust if needed.
Garnish and serve: Turn off the heat. Sprinkle 1 oz red jalapeno and 1/4 cup cilantro over the soup for garnish. Ladle the soup into a bowl and serve with steamed rice.
NUTRITION
Luna Regina
Writer, Author