Tom yum soup recipe

If you’ve had a busy day and can’t wait to eat, but you don’t want to spoil your diet by reaching for a frozen pizza, this tom yum is a very quick dish to make. Just make sure you keep the ingredients stocked in your cupboard – as they’ll come in handy for lots of other Oriental dishes too.

This Thai-influenced soup is a healthy, veg-packed dish that can be made with either a fish or vegetable broth, depending on what you have to hand. You can alter the fish and shellfish according to taste too, making it a very adaptable dish.

Ingredients

(serves 6)

2 litres basic fish broth (see below) or vegetable broth

4tbsp fish paste

1 onion, roughly diced

4 lemongrass stalks, bruised

6 kaffir lime leaves

2–3 bird’s eye chillies, finely sliced

1kg mixed fresh fish, prawns or squid, cleaned, scaled and cut into chunks

4 spring onions, finely sliced

2tbsp freshly-shaved coconut (optional)

2 heads of pak choi, sliced

6 tbsp fish sauce

2 teaspoons mirin (japanese rice wine) or ½ teaspoon soft brown sugar

Freshly squeezed juice of 2 limes

A small bunch of fresh coriander, torn

Method

Pour the broth into a large saucepan or pot and add the fish paste, onion, lemongrass, lime leaves and two of the chillies. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook for about 20 minutes. Pour the mixture through a sieve, discarding the solids.

Transfer the broth to a clean saucepan or pot and bring to a simmer, then add the fish and seafood, spring onions and shaved coconut. Cook for about five to seven minutes over medium heat, until the fish and seafood are just cooked.

Add the pak choi/bok choy. Season with the fish sauce and mirin. If you want a little more heat and colour, add another sliced chilli. Adjust the acidity with the fresh lime juice, adding a little at a time until you are happy with the flavour. Finally, stir in the torn fresh coriander.

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve immediately.

A Bowlful of Broth, with recipes and introduction by Miranda Ballard, published by Ryland Peters & Small http://www.rylandpeters.com/a-bowlful-of-broth

Photography by Steve Painter, recipe by Belinda Williams