Tom yum
Encyclopedia
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. Tom yum is widely served in neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, and has been popularized around the world. It is listed at number 8 on World's 50 Most Delicious Foods complied by CNN Go in 2011.
Literally, the words "tom yum" are derived from two Thai words: "tom" and "yum". "Tom" refers to boiling process (soup, in this case). "Yum" refers to a kind of Thai spicy and sour salad. Thus, "tom-yum" is a Thai hot and sour soup. Indeed, tom yum is characterized by its distinct hot and sour flavors, with fragrant herbs generously used in the broth. The basic broth is made of stock and fresh ingredients such as lemon grass, kaffir lime
Kaffir lime
The kaffir lime, Citrus × hystrix, Rutaceae), is also known as combava, kieffer lime, limau purut, jeruk purut or makrut lime,...
leaves, galangal
Galangal
Galangal is a rhizome of plants of the genus Alpinia or Kaempferia in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, with culinary and medicinal uses originated from Indonesia...
, lime
Lime (fruit)
Lime is a term referring to a number of different citrus fruits, both species and hybrids, which are typically round, green to yellow in color, 3–6 cm in diameter, and containing sour and acidic pulp. Limes are a good source of vitamin C. Limes are often used to accent the flavors of foods and...
juice, fish sauce
Fish sauce
Fish sauce is a condiment that is derived from fish that have been allowed to ferment. It is an essential ingredient in many curries and sauces. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in numerous cultures in Southeast Asia and the coastal regions of East Asia, and features heavily in Thai and Vietnamese...
and crushed chili pepper
Chili pepper
Chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The term in British English and in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia and other Asian countries is just chilli without pepper.Chili peppers originated in the Americas...
s.
In neighbouring countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, the name tom yum is used widely for various spicy soups which can differ greatly from true Thai/Laotian tom yum soup. As a result, people are often confused by the disparities.
Commercial tom yum paste is made by crushing all the herb ingredients and stir frying
Stir frying
Stir frying is an umbrella term used to describe two Chinese cooking techniques for preparing food in a wok: chǎo and bào . The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, to describe the chǎo technique...
in oil. Seasoning and other preservative ingredients are then added. The paste is bottled or packaged, and sold around the world. Tom yum flavored with the paste may have different characteristics from that made with fresh herb ingredients.
The 1997 Financial Crisis in Asia, which started in Thailand, is sometimes referred to as the "Tom Yam Kung Crisis".
Selected types
- Tom yum goong or tom yam kung, the version of the dish most popular among tourists is made with prawnPrawnPrawns are decapod crustaceans of the sub-order Dendrobranchiata. There are 540 extant species, in seven families, and a fossil record extending back to the Devonian...
s as main ingredient. - Tom yum goong maphrao on nam khon, a version of prawn tom yum with the meat of a young coconut and a dash of coconut milk.
- Tom yum pla in Thai (tom yum pa in Lao) clear fish soup was traditionally eaten with rice. It used to be the most widespread form of tom yam before mass-tourism came to Thailand, for fresh fish is readily available almost everywhere in the region's rivers, canals and lakes as well as in the sea. Usually fish with firm flesh that doesn't crumble after boiling is preferred for this type of soup.
- Tom yum gai or tom yam kai is the chickenChickenThe chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
version of the soup. - Tom yum thale in Thai or (tom yum po taek in Lao) is a variant of the soup with mixed seafood, like prawns, squid, clams and pieces of fish.
- Tom yum nam khon is a more recent variation. Almost always made with prawns as a main ingredient, a little coconut milkCoconut milkCoconut milk is the water that comes from the grated meat of a coconut. The colour and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high oil content. In many parts of the world, the term coconut milk is also used to refer to coconut water, the naturally occurring liquid found inside the hollow...
is added to the broth as a finishing touch, and then balanced with some toasted dried chillies. This adaptation is not to be confused with tom kha gaiTom kha gaiTom kha gai or Tom kha kai , literally "chicken galangal soup") is a spicy hot soup in Lao cuisine and Thai cuisine. This soup is made with coconut milk, galangal, lemon grass and chicken. The fried chillies add a smoky flavor as well as texture, color and heat, but not so much that it overwhelms...
("chicken galanga soup"), where galanga is the dominant flavour of the coconut milk-based soup. - Tom yam kha mu , made with pork knuckles. These require a long cooking time under low fire.
In the modern popularized versions the soup contains also mushrooms - usually straw mushrooms or oyster mushrooms. The soup is often topped with generous sprinkling of fresh chopped cilantro (coriander
Coriander
Coriander is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Coriander is native to southern Europe and North Africa to southwestern Asia. It is a soft, hairless plant growing to tall. The leaves are variable in shape, broadly lobed at the base of the plant, and slender and feathery higher on the...
leaves). Sometimes Thai chili jam (nam phrik
Nam phrik
Nam phrik , generally pronounced "Nam phik", is a generic term that may refer to any of the types of more or less thick spicy, often chili based, hot sauces typical of Thai cuisine. The main ingredients of Nam phrik are fresh or dry chilies, garlic, shallots, fish sauce, lime juice and/or some kind...
phao) is added: this gives the soup a bright orange color and makes the chili flavor more pronounced.
The Royal Lao version of tom yam includes a pinch of rice in the soup.
Tom khlong
Less well-known outside Thailand is tom khlong (ต้มโคล้ง), a similar spicy sour soup where the sourness, however, does not derive from lime juice but through the use of tamarindTamarind
Tamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .-Origin:...
.