Tom Yum Soup

This is a simple and really delicious recipe for Thai tom yum soup. It’s incredibly quick to make, although it’ll cost most people a trip to Chinatown for the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves if nothing else (but come on — $3.50 a pound for shitakes?). Makes two large bowls. Also in this picture: Chinese broccoli cut to two-inch segments, blanched, then stir-fried quickly with slices of garlic, oyster sauce, salt, and pepper.

Ingredients

fresh lemongrass
3 kaffir lime leaves
2 thai chiles
1/2 lb shitake mushrooms
1/2 lb shrimp
1 small-to-medium onion
2 limes
2 tbs fish sauce
fresh cilantro
~4 c water

Process

Peel and thoroughly wash the shrimp. Slice the shitakes. You can slice and reserve the stems too if you want; I usually don’t. peels several strips from a stalk of lemongrass and slice them into long, thin pieces. Tie all those pieces into a big knot to keep them manageable. Pound the knot firmly but not violently (like you’d muddle mint for a mojito) with something hard (maybe the bottom of a pint glass or whatever) to release some of the flavor.

Bring water to a boil, and then add the lemongrass and let it boil for five minutes. Slice the thai chiles and chop the onion into eighths and quarter the limes. Put the juice of 1 lime (reserving the other wedges), the fish sauce, and the chiles into each of your bowls. When the lemongrass has boiled for 5 minutes, add the kaffir lime leaves and mushrooms and give it a stir, then turn off the burner add the onions and the shrimp. If you’re going to use the shitake stems, give them an extra minute in the boiling water before you add everything else — they’re substantially harder than the caps. Garnish with cilantro and the rest of the lime wedgesServe while hot. The shrimp will be cooked by the time anyone gets to it and will be overcooked and tough if you put it in while the water is still boiling.