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Chefs Binge · Thai · Serves 6 servings

Tom Yum Talay - Thai Seafood Soup

Tom Yum Talay, the Thai seafood soup, built on lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime and lime juice with salmon, mixed seafood and oyster mushrooms.
Prep
15 min
Cook
25 min
Total
40 min
Serves
6 servings
Per serving
250 kcal

Ingredients

200 g mixed seafood - prawns, scallops, squid
240 g salmon fillet - cut into bite-size pieces (optional)
200 g mixed oyster and shiitake mushrooms - cut larger pieces in half
2 stalks lemongrass - bruised and chopped
2 tsp galangal paste or a 5 cm piece of fresh root - sliced
5 kaffir lime leaves - torn
2 Thai red chillies - seeds removed and sliced (optional: 2 tsp mild chilli powder)
Juice from 2 limes
4 small shallots - peeled
4 tsp vegetable oil
2 L cold water
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tomato - quartered
3-4 tsp stock powder - Thai pork stock powder recommended, or use chicken/vegetable stock powder
60 ml coconut milk
Fish sauce - to taste
Fresh coriander and spring onions - for garnish
Jasmine rice - for serving

Equipment

Large Pot · Ladle

Method

1
Bruise the aromatics. Bash the lemongrass stalks and the galangal with the back of a knife to release their oils, and tear the kaffir lime leaves. These are flavourings, not food: they stay in the pot and go into the bowl, and you eat around them like a bay leaf.
2
Simmer the broth base. Bring the water to a boil with the stock powder, then add the bruised lemongrass and galangal, the torn kaffir lime leaves, the shallots and the quartered tomato. Simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes to infuse. If you have shell-on prawns, simmering the shells and heads in the water first and straining them out gives a much deeper broth.
3
Add the mushrooms and seafood, briefly. Add the mushrooms, then the seafood, and cook only until it just turns opaque, a couple of minutes at most. Stagger it by cook time: prawns and firm fish first, then squid and scallops for the last thirty seconds. If you use mussels, simmer them until the shells open and discard any that stay shut.
4
Season the broth. Stir in the fish sauce for salt, the sugar, and the coconut milk, which softens the edge without turning it creamy. A spoonful of nam prik pao, the Thai roasted chilli paste, goes in here too for a deeper flavour. Taste as you go.
5
Finish off the heat. Take the pot off the heat before you add the lime juice and most of the fresh chilli. Boiled lime juice goes flat and bitter, and chilli cooked into the broth turns harshly hot; added at the end, off the heat, the lime stays bright and the chilli gives a fresh burst of heat.
6
Serve. Ladle into bowls, scatter over the coriander and spring onions, and serve hot with jasmine rice. Leave the lemongrass, galangal and kaffir leaves in the bowl.

Chef’s notes

  • Add the lime and most of the chilli off the heat. Boiled lime juice goes flat and bitter, and chilli cooked into the broth turns harshly hot. Take the pot off the heat, then finish with lime and fresh chilli.
  • Cook the seafood briefly. It only needs a couple of minutes to turn opaque; stagger it by cook time (prawns and fish first, squid and scallops last) so nothing goes rubbery.
  • The aromatics stay in the pot. Lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves flavour the broth but are not eaten, like a bay leaf. Eat around them.
  • Mussels: simmer until the shells open and discard any that stay shut.
Recipe © Chef Łukasz Babral · chefsbinge.com · for personal use only
chefsbinge.com/tom-yum-talay-recipe-a-convenient-take-on-thai-seafood-soup
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