Thai Tom Yum Soup

Last night, I ventured out and decided to try to make something completely new – Thai Tom Yum Soup. I have never tried to make any type of Thai food. It was a little scary, but exciting. I didn’t use a recipe, but I did browse around on Pinterest to see what the key ingredients would be for this soup.

What sparked this idea was a soup that I have had at a local restaurant: Hubbell and Hudson Bistro. They serve a Tom Yum soup, and I am obsessed with it! I wanted to try to re-create it because eating at home is way cheaper than going out to eat all the time. While it is not exactly like the one the restaurant serves, I think it had a lot of similarities!

Below is what I used and how I made it. I would definitely recommend this to anyone. It actually was not too spicy, so don’t be afraid to make it! You can always spice it up or spice it down with more/less curry and cayenne.

Ingredients:

*Serves 6 people (8-10 if used as an appetizer)

• 1 lb. shrimp
• 1 package shiitake mushrooms
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1/2 large white onion, chopped
• 4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 12 oz. cans Coconut Milk
• 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth
• 4 TBS red curry (do 5 if you want a bit spicier)
• 3 TBS fish sauce
• 2 tsp cayenne
• 2 TBS garlic (I didn’t use fresh)
• Salt and Pepper
• Basil
• Mint
• Cilantro
• White Rice (if you want to serve over some rice)

Directions:

• Combine coconut milk, chicken broth, red curry, fish sauce, a few basil and mint leaves, and a few dashes of salt and pepper in a large stove-top pot. Cook on medium-low heat. Stir every few minutes.
• In a separate pan, sauté the onion, carrots, red bell pepper and tomatoes with your garlic and a bit of olive oil. Do this over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Do not cook this all the way through.
• Once your veggies have cooked for a few minutes, throw them in with the soup mixture. Stir and add a bit more salt and pepper.
• Add in the shiitake mushrooms to the soup mixture. Stir.
• Cook your shrimp in the same pan you sautéed the veggies in. Add a little bit of olive oil in the pan and cook the shrimp for a couple of minutes on each side on a medium-high heat.
• Once the shrimp are cooked, add them into your soup mixture and stir. Add a little more salt and pepper.
• Add your cayenne seasoning to the soup mixture. Stir.
• Make sure your soup mixture is on a low heat. Let the soup simmer a bit and become more flavorful. Keep stirring every few minutes.
• (Optional): You can make some white rice to serve with the soup. I wouldn’t combine the white rice into the soup – I would simply serve the soup over some rice.
• Once the soup has cooked down a bit, dish it into a bowl and garnish with cilantro. Cheers!

Let me know what y’all think of this new creation! Do you have any good soup suggestions? Winter is the perfect time to explore new soup recipes!

-Catheryn