RecipeMuncher

Born and raised in a tropical island, I am all about sun and warmth. I absolutely dread cold weather and the mere presence of sun lights me up like a glowing stick. I am inherently happier and more cheerful when the sun is out.

This month has been mostly cold and wet–lots of rain, cloudy, and yucky. I feel moody when the sky is grey. On chilly and gloomy days, I usually make myself Tom Yum soup to lift my spirit. Nothing feels better than downing a bowl of piping hot, spicy, sour, and highly addictive Tom Yum soup…

Tom Yum is probably one of the most well-known dishes from Thailand. It’s uniquely Thai and has become so famous that they made a movie with the name “Tom Yum Goong.” I kid you not.

Over the years, I have perfected my Tom Yum recipe. I can whip it up in less than 30 minutes. Before you try my Tom Yum recipe, I wanted to warn you that you will need to start saving prawn/shrimp heads. A good stock guarantees the great taste of Tom Yum, much like dashi to Japanese noodle soup. Another secret is the use of nam prik pao (Thai roasted chili paste). Of course, you can’t do without the aromatics: galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, bird’s eye chilies, etc. Once you have these ingredients, you will have the best bowl of homemade tom yum you’ve ever tasted, I promise.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups shrimp stock
10-12 shrimp or 8 oz (head-on and shell-on but chop the eyes part off. Devein if you wish)
3 tablespoons lime juice
6 bird’s eyes chilies (pounded)
3 slices galangal
6 kaffir lime leaves (bruised)
2 tablespoons nam prik pao (Thai roasted chili paste)
2 teaspoons fish sauce or to taste
1 stalk lemongrass (use the white part only, pounded with a cleaver)
6 canned straw mushrooms / fresh oyster mushrooms / fresh or canned button mushrooms

Method:

In a pot, bring 3 cups of water to boil. Then add a big handful of shrimp/prawn heads. Boil the shrimp head until the water turns slightly orange in color. Press the shrimp heads with spatula to extract the “goodies” from their heads. Let the stock reduce to slightly more than 2 1/2 cups. Drain the shrimp stock and discard the shrimp heads.

Add lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, bird’s eye chilies, mushrooms, nam prik bao to the shrimp stock and bring it to boil. Add in the shrimp and fish sauce. Lastly, add the lime juice (if you add lime juice too early, the soup might turn bitter). Boil until the shrimps are cooked, dish out and serve hot.

Cook’s Note:

You can use also chicken, a combination of chicken plus shrimp, or seafood combination (shrimp, squid, scallops, green-lipped mussels) for tom yum soup. It’s really up to you, but the most popular tom yum is tom yum goong, goong means prawns.

I have a special corner for a remote place in Tamil Nadu, India called Sriviliputtur. Special memories gush in real fast making me utterly nostalgic. This place is famous - for its Andal (South Indian Goddess) Temple and for its "too-good-to-be-true" sweet called "Pal Kova" , an utterly delicious sweet made from milk and sugar. Something about the richness of the milk makes this incomparable if

My friend was telling me about a recipe for
Tex-Mex turkey burgers in this month’s Everyday Food. She sent me the recipe but it wasn’t what I was thinking when I thought Tex-Mex. I was thinking of something a little spicier than chili powder and pepper jack.

I had some ground turkey in the freezer so I was determined to come up with a recipe for a tex-mex burger. I finally settled on adding chipotles in adobo, garlic, onion, cilantro, and lime with my turkey. It turned out wonderful. Hubby and my mom both loved them and so did I. We had them on lightly toasted ciabatta rolls with avocado and fresh sliced tomatoes. This will be a new staple on our table.

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