← All recipes
Thailand · Shrimp

Thai Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup

Tom Yum Goong

Tom yum goong is Thailand's most famous soup: big river or sea prawns in a broth perfumed with lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves, sharpened with lime and fish sauce and lit up with chilies. The creamy-red nam khon version gets its color from roasted chili paste and a splash of milk.

  • Prep 20 min
  • Cook 20 min
  • Serves 4
  • Level Easy
Photo: suriya / Adobe Stock
Served with: Thai Crispy Omelette ↓En Español

Ingredients

Tap each item as you gather it.

For the stock

For the soup

Method

Step by step, the traditional way.

  1. Prep the shrimp. Peel the shrimp, leaving the tails on, and devein. Keep the heads and shells.
  2. Make the stock. Bruise the lemongrass with the back of a knife and cut it into 2 in (5 cm) lengths. Simmer the shells and heads in the water 10 minutes, strain, and return the stock to the pot.
  3. Perfume it. Add the lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves and simmer 5 minutes.
  4. Cook. Add the mushrooms, tomato and chilies and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the chili paste, then add the shrimp and cook just until pink, about 2 minutes.
  5. Season off the heat. Turn off the heat. Stir in the fish sauce, sugar, evaporated milk if using, and the lime juice last (boiling lime turns bitter). Taste: it should be sour first, then salty and hot.
  6. Serve. Ladle into bowls, scatter cilantro and serve with jasmine rice and kai jeow. The lemongrass and galangal are for flavor, not for eating.

On the side

The side dish that belongs with it, full recipe included.

Thai Crispy Omelette
Thailand

Thai Crispy Omelette

Kai Jeow

Eggs beaten with fish sauce and lime and fried in very hot oil until puffed, crisp at the edges and soft inside. With rice, it is what Thais eat next to a bowl of tom yum.

  • Prep 5 min
  • Cook 5 min
  • Serves 2
  • Level Easy

You need

  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp lime juice
  • 1 tsp rice flour or cornstarch (optional, for extra crunch)
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • Sriracha, to serve

How to make it

  1. Beat. Beat the eggs hard with the fish sauce, lime juice and rice flour until very foamy.
  2. Heat the oil. Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until it just starts to smoke.
  3. Fry. Pour the eggs in from about a foot (30 cm) above the wok; they will puff up at once. Fry 1 minute, flip and fry 30 seconds more.
  4. Serve. Drain and serve right away on rice with sriracha.

More ways to cook Shrimp

Same catch, a different kitchen.

Madrid, SpainSizzling Garlic Shrimp
Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston Shrimp and Grits
West Java, IndonesiaIndonesian Fried Gourami with Mango Sambal