Tom Yum Soup
Tom Yum Soup is one of the easiest, quickest, most flavorful soups! It’s bold yet light, tart, salty and citrusy, bursting with layer upon layer of intoxicating flavor from the lemongrass, garlic, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lime juice, and fish sauce along with tender juicy shrimp and mushrooms. This Tom Yum Soup recipe is naturally gluten free and can be made vegetarian and vegan as well. I’ve also included pantry friendly substitutions for the more exotic ingredients such as galangal and kaffir lime leaves that aren't authentic but they taste like it! Because everyone needs Tom Yum Soup in their life! v
Servings 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
- 3 stalks lemongrass
- 1/2 medium white onion sliced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 3-inch piece galangal or ginger sliced into 1/2 pieces (no need to peel)
- 6 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon Asian chili sauce more or less to taste (optional)
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 5 kaffir lime leaves, roughly torn or 3 bay leaves +1 teaspoon lime zest
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper **OMIT if using galangal and not ginger**
ADD LATER:
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 pound large raw shrimp peeled, deveined
- 8 oz. white mushrooms sliced
- 2 large Roma tomatoes cut into 2” wedges
Garnish
- cilantro
Instructions
- Heat vegetable in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add red curry paste, lemongrass and onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 30 seconds.
- Add the rest of the soup ingredients through the pepper (up to the "add later" ingredients). Cover and bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium-low. Gently simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, strain the broth by transferring to a colander over a pot then return the broth to the soup pot.
- Stir in lime juice, mushrooms, tomatoes and shrimp. Simmer 2-3 additional minutes or until shrimp is cooked through.
- Taste and add additional lime juice for more sour/citrus, more chili sauce for more heat, more sugar for sweeter/less tangy, more fish sauce for saltier etc. Garnish individual servings with cilantro.
Video
Notes
*Don't miss the How to Make Tom Yum Video in the post!
Recipe Tips
- Lemongrass: can usually be found in the produce section of your grocery store, otherwise specialty produce stores like Sprouts and Whole Foods carry it. If you can't find fresh lemongrass, you may substitute with 1 tablespoon paste.
- Kaffir lime leaves: can be found at most Asian markets or you may substitute with dried kaffir lime leaves in the same amount. Alternatively, substitute with 3 bay leaves + 1 teaspoon lime zest.
- Galangal: tastes much like ginger with the complexity of pungent, pepper-pine undertones. It is available at Asian markets or substitute with ginger along with 1/4 teaspoon pepper (already listed in recipe).
- Creamy Tom Yum Soup: add 1/3 cup evaporated milk when you add the shrimp.
- Tom Yum Noodle Soup: fresh egg noodles are traditional or you can use rice vermicelli/thin rice noodles/sticks broken into pieces like I do in my Thai Chicken Noodle Soup. Soba noodles would also be tasty. You will want to add the noodles the last few minutes of cooking (they usually take 5 minutes), just before the shrimp. You can also cook the noodles separately then add to bowls and ladle the soup over top.
HOW to store and reheat
- Storage: Store in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 2-3 days.
- Reheat: You can gently reheat Tom Yum Soup on the stove, in the microwave or crockpot. In each method, remove the shrimp and add it back to the soup after the broth is warmed then gently warm through so you don’t overcook the shrimp which will make it rubbery.