Tom Yum Soup– hot, fragrant, sour and most definitely involves a yum factor! Now there are different combinations on how to make this soup, but this coconut version is easy, quick yet packed with lots of flavour. Tom yum soup became one of my favourite soups to eat in Thailand because of the unique taste it has. They say it is packed with lots of good nutrients and apparently is quite good at curing the cold.  This soup is something I constantly make and I often play around with the ingredients, depending on what I am craving for. This dish suits morning-glory, mushrooms, pork or chicken etc. This time, I used prawns, glass noodles and some of my favourite vegetables. I didn’t really measure anything for this recipe, the only important thing is to have a good quality tom yum paste. Of course, it would be possible to make this from scratch, you need galangal, lime juice/leaves, fish sauce, palm sugar and chicken stock… I haven’t tried making it myself yet, but I will one day as it is not an impossible task. However, for your ease, a great tom yum paste works well too! This soup is the perfect lunch or dinner rescue if you need to strip up something quickly and effortlessly.

Ingredients

• Kale or Paksoi
• Baby Spinach leaves
• Carrots
• Grated Ginger & Garlic
• Good Quality Organic Tom Yum Paste
• Coconut Milk or Cream
• Red Onion
• Courgette
• Glass noodles
• Prawns
• Fish Sauce
• sesame Oil
• Chili (optional)
• 1 Lemon grass stalk (optional)

Directions

Chop your carrot, courgette and kale into long thin slices. Chop your onion and grate some ginger and garlic. Gently pound the lemon grass and chop into rough pieces.

In a hot wok pan, add some sesame oil and begin to stir fry the garlic, ginger, lemon grass, onion and carrots. Add in the kale, prawns and courgette. Stir for a couple of minutes and add in the coconut milk (or cream) and a bit of water. Add in 2-3 generous tablespoons of tom yum paste and a drizzle of fish sauce. The tom yum paste I am using was found at a local Asian store and it has a nice spicy and sour kick to it, so I did not add any chili to this dish. Let it simmer gently for a about 7 minutes and add the noodles and the baby spinach leaves. Let the cook for a couple of minutes and the soup is ready.