Tom Yum is one of the most well-know Thai recipes and I have the BEST and most authentic Tom Yum Goong recipe for you.
Goong means shrimp in Thai language as the soup is usually made with shrimp. You can also make it with seafood such as squid or a combination of different seafood.
The best Tom Yum calls for shrimp stock, which you can make by boiling the shrimp heads with water, a trick I learned from Chez Pim. A good stock guarantees the great taste of Tom Yum.
However, you can also make it with water or canned chicken stock. Another secret is the use of nam prik pao (Thai roasted chili paste). You can’t do without the aromatics: galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and bird’s eye chilies.
To make Bangkok-style Tom Yum which is creamier and whiter in color, add a few tablespoons of evaporated milk to the soup, a trick I learned from She Simmers.
Once you have these ingredients, you will have the best bowl of homemade tom yum you’ve ever tasted, I promise.
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Tom Yum Recipe
Tom Yum - the BEST Thai Tom Yum recipe you'll find online. Loaded with shrimp, mushroom, Tom Yum soup is spicy, sour, savory and addictive.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups shrimp stock best, canned chicken stock, or water
- 10-12 shrimp or 8 oz head-on and shell-on but chop the eyes part off, devein if you like
- 3 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
- 6 bird's eyes chilies pounded
- 3 big slices galangal
- 6 kaffir lime leaves bruised
- 2 tablespoons nam prik pao Thai roasted chili paste
- 2 tablespoons nam prik pao oil
- 3 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 stalk lemongrass cut into 3-inch strips, pounded with a cleaver
- 6 canned straw mushrooms / fresh oyster mushrooms / fresh white button mushrooms
Instructions
-
In a pot, bring 3 cups of water to boil. Then add a big handful of shrimp/prawn heads. Boil the shrimp head until the water turns slightly orange in color. Press the shrimp heads with spatula to extract the "goodies" from their heads. Let the stock reduce to slightly more than 2 1/2 cups. Drain the shrimp stock and discard the shrimp heads.
-
Add lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, bird's eye chilies, mushrooms, nam prik bao to the shrimp stock and bring it to boil. Add in the shrimp and fish sauce. Lastly, add the lime juice (if you add lime juice too early, the soup might turn bitter). Boil until the shrimps are cooked, dish out and serve hot.
Recipe Notes
You can use also chicken, a combination of chicken plus shrimp, or seafood combination (shrimp, squid, scallops, green-lipped mussels) for tom yum soup. It's really up to you, but the most popular tom yum is tom yum goong, goong means prawn.
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All photos and recipes on Rasa Malaysia are copyright protected. Please do not use the photos and recipes without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own words instead of copy and paste and link back to //rasamalaysia.com/tom-yum-recipe/. Thank you very much!
Frank
I made this lovely soup 2 times, first time was better than second. I think it is because the amount of nam prik pao varied… Could you give me an estimate of about how many grams is in 2 tbsp nam prik pao and 2 tbsp nam prik pao-oil combined? Would be very much appreciated!
Rasa Malaysia
I don’t know how many grams, you need to put exactly 2 tablespoons of nam prik pao (without oil) and then 2 tablespoons of oil. If it’s not flavorful then add more Nam prik pao.
Frank
Heaping or leveled tablespoons of nam prik pao?
(Thanks for the quick reply!)
Rasa Malaysia
Level or heaping is fine. It doesn’t matter. Just adjust the taste by adding more to fit your palate.
Chris
This recipe sounds really good, but can you please tell how to devein prawns with the head, shell and tail still on?
Rasa Malaysia
Just cut through the shell of the shrimp and devein as usual.
thai simple soup boy
my god how stupid are some of these comments, cmon its a simple soup,nice soup
Diana
I made your recipe this week and it was absolutely delicious. Had to order all my Thai aromatics online as our little town has none of them. Now I gave my stash in my freezer to make this soup again and again! Totally yummy!
Rasa Malaysia
Yay Diane, yes this is probably the best Tom Yum Goong recipe you will find online! :)
Jina Allen
Hi,
Where is the best place to find the ingredients? I’ve never heard of some and my experience with Thai food is limited. This recipe looks delicious
JinA
Rasa Malaysia
You will need to find them at Asian food stores.
Pinky
Hello! Can the Thai roasted chili paste and oil be mutually substituted? I have limited pantry space and don’t want to buy two of the same things for one dish and then have it sitting around. Should I buy the paste or the oil? Thanks for the help.
Rasa Malaysia
The oil is inside the paste. It’s the same thing.
Pinky
Hello! What can I use in place of Thai roasted red chili and the nam oil? Can I just increase birds eye chili and add sesame oil? If not could you please recommend some substitutions. Thanks.
Rasa Malaysia
You can just use bird’s eye chilies and skip the chili paste, but don’t use sesame oil.
BRANDY R STONER
Oops. I added 2 tbsp sesame oil. How do I fix it?
Rasa Malaysia
Hmm, you can’t. Sesame oil will completely change the taste. There is no oil in Tom Yum Goong other than chili oil from the nam prik pao.
Pinky
Hello! What can I use in place of Thai roasted chili paste? Can I substitute with Thai red curry paste or birds eye chili? Thanks.
Elizabeth Spangenberg
If I needed to tone down on the spiciness what would you suggest – I love Tom Yum Goong and going to make it tomorrow night i have spicy issues but
I LOVE THIS SOUP!!! ? Help♡
Thanks ♡ Liz
Rasa Malaysia
You can skip the bird’s eye chili.
Agatha Prilly F
it looks spicy but I like it!
yudi saputro
I like tom yum..
I have any quoestion, whats the meaning of bird’s eye chili?
Rasa Malaysia
Thai chilies.
Andy
Is there a your version of homemade recipes for Nam Prik Pao?
Also, what are your Favourite Brand for fish sauce, and Shrimp paste
Rasa Malaysia
Andy – I don’t have a nam prik pao recipe but you can check it out here: http://shesimmers.com/2011/03/nam-prik-pao-recipe-%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%81%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%9C%E0%B8%B2-thai-chilli-jam.html
For fish sauce, I use three crab brand or Red Boat. No preference for Shrimp Paste.
Gordon Hogan
This comment has nothing to do with any recipe. It’s about the advertising.
The woman who presents “Ending a Relationship” is turning your site from what could be a first class site into one that is second or third rate. Besides what does this video have to do with cooking??? ZILCH, NOTHING NA NA.
You must be paid a large sum of money to put up with this video. It creates unbelievable delays.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Gordon, I am sorry about the experience. Could you send me a screenshot? I don’t see what you see.
jane
i thought theres tomato in tom yum? Does it really matter? Thanks :)
zeh
I love your blog. I tried some of your recipes and i love them. I have one question, im not so familiar with tom yam soup, but i noticed that other recipes on google has other kinds of seafood. If i want to use your recipe, is there any adjustment if i want to add other kinds of seafoods? Thanks a lot
Rasa Malaysia
Yes you can!
Holly
I just made this and I know this soup is supposed to be very spicy but I found it was much more intense heat-wise than when I have had it in restaurants. I did use Fried Chili Oil in place of the nam prik pao. Do you think this would be the reason? Thank you!
Rasa Malaysia
You can’t use fried chili oil to replace nam prik pao, they are completely different.
Suzy @ The Mediterranean Dish
I am so glad I found this recipe for Tom Yum soup! Much like you, I am not a fan of the cold weather, and I love a bowl of hot Tom Yum soup to warm me up. I have not attempted making it before, mostly because we have a great little Thai restaurant nearby.
Will soon be making it.
Claud Yeiser
I am looking to make this and have a question:
Would fresh ginger be a suitable substitute for Galangal? I don’t recall seeing it anywhere locally.
Thank you for any updates/replies.
Claud
Rasa Malaysia
Ginger and galangal are completely different. If you can’t find galangal, just skip it.
Beth Ramsay
Does the recipe require fresh galangal or dried?
Rasa Malaysia
Fresh, always fresh.
Alun k
Made everything according to the recipe, soup itself is ok untill u start eating it with steamed rice, something is missing, the flavout is not as rich as in restaurant’s soup:( dissapointed:(
Rasa Malaysia
Did you use Thai roasted chili paste? If you want richer taste, use more fish sauce and roasted chili paste.
Zeenath Rahim
Bee yours is the one news letter I look for every time I open my mail. Fabulous recipes, excellent photography & write ups that always make a good read.
As the imported ready made Thai pastes available in my country are all of indifferent quality, I am sure your fans would appreciate recipes for Thai Chilli pastes (nam prik pao) & other Thai curry pastes that we can make from scratch. I am sure flavour & quality will be far superior to ready made ones. Thanks
Tom Yum Soup
Tom Yum is one of my favorite Thai dishes, I think it highlights the culture perfectly and provides the perfect blend of spice and flavor; what Thai cooking is all about! I love the recipe you’ve used here; Tom Yum is delicious with chicken or shrimp/prawns; gotta leave those heads on though!
Lynn
Is there any other brand you’d recommend?Your Tom Yum Goong looks yummy.
simplythai
This is really delicious soup!!! actually the problem is no to cook it, but to collect all these ingredients! I used to buy ingredients in Thailand when I go there for vacation. But now I’ve run out of my stock, and order all the ingredients online through thai tom yum shop! I use this one: Tom Yum recipe .com, but you can google your own favorite tom yum shop))
and where do you get ingredients?
Mr Stone
hi ,
i have been trying to find out how many people your recipe serves?
please help asap , we are making this for 4 people for dinner in a few hours !!!
kind thanks
Rasa Malaysia
My recipe serves two people.
Forager
Thanks for recipe! I love tom yum so I’ll have to start saving prawn heads for this recipe… :)
Mrs Ergül
I have only cooked the white soup base Tom Yum Goong before. But I have received a small jar of chili paste from my Thai counterpart and I shall put it to good use with this recipe! Thanks!
vivi
HI,
How can i make the shrimp stock? coudnt seem to find in your post.
Can you reply to my email add. Many thanks .
cheers
F+E
Me and my luv very luv tom yam…
MyF
Oh noooo… Tom Yum is my favourite! This looks extremely delicious… gimme some!
Nyonya Chef
Yum! Yum!I can feel the sourness & spiciness.
NYMY
Is it me, or I just find tom yum better outside of Thailand? Tom yam in Malaysia and tom yum in U.S. are just yummier. Why is that? I’ve been to Bangkok several times, and each time, I will ask local Thais where to get a good bowl of tom yum gai. Each time, I must say I am disappointed :(
Sue Me
You might want to watermark your picture a lil higher than that. Chef Rosas might crop away the watermark and eventually steal pics again.
Btw, awesome tomyum recipe thanks :)
TikiPundit
Looks great, as with all photography you do.
Hmmm, reminds me… you should watermark your photos across the center, so thieving “chefs” can’t thieve your good work and effort! :)
Uddawise, next t’ing ya know, dis gonna be some kind Chef Al original!!
ChichaJo
You rock for making tom yum from scratch! :) I love this…especially when it is spicy enough to make me sniffle! I’ll start saving shrimp heads now…
Clandestine Diner
Mmm! Pair it with a bottle of Belgian Tripel and I am so there. It would bring out all the magical elements that the kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass bring to the soup.
My Taste Heaven
Great tomyam… the prawns are big and delicious!
Lingzie
Looks like a great recipe! i’ve never attempted to make tom yum on my own… need to go look for nam prik pao in penang! :)
Laura [What I Like]
I actually was just looking in my freezer the other night and was trying to figure out what on earth to do with my shrimp stock…what serendipity!
Zlamushka
Adore Tom Yam Goong. I have been reading thorugh your open letters to the Blog Pic Stealers and it is horrible that this is happening. I am sorry to hear that your adorable pictures are being kidnapped and victimised :-(
Bex
Oooo how about one on Laksa Johor, if you haven’t posted a recipe already….
RecipeGirl
I see you’ve added a copyright to your pics! Good! I have to agree with CCC though- the watermark needs to be typed across part of your food photo or it can still be stolen (I know… it takes away from the beauty of the photo, but it’s sometimes necessary to protect). Lovely dish!
Lulu Barbarian
I’m so glad to finally learn how to make this soup! Now I won’t have to always get it from a restaurant.
StickyGooeyCreamyChewy
This soup looks so wonderful! It is a favorite of mine whenever I’m at a Thai restaurant. I’ll have to try my hand at making some for myself. I even have a bag of shrimp shells in my freezer!
CCC
You truly have an eye for photography! Your dishes “jump” out at us through the blog!
Sorry to put a damper though … I would suggest that you put one of those “transparent-nish” watermark right across your photos. Identifying Rasa Malaysia at the bottom of the photo would still allow for copyright thefts since that portion can be easily cropped off.
You may also want to check out photo-sites like Flickr. They are able to have photos uploaded in their site, yet viewers are unable to copy the photos.
Elaine
That looks extremely good. Your tom yum broth looks so lemak! If i could only reach…through…the…screen…..
:P
Matt Wright
Fabulous stuff – what a great, great looking bowl of food.
Emily
This looks great, I love making soup in the winter.
Two questions though… Is this enough for one person? Also, I’d be nervous about saving shrimp heads. How do you store them and for how long?
Thanks.
Sapuche
Your Tom Yum Goong looks great. So many goong in that bowl! I really appreciate having this recipe, and also the advice to save prawn heads. I agree that good food brightens any gloomy day, and this recipe definitely looks like it would do the trick. Thanks for sharing this!
tigerfish
Your Tom Yum soup full of udang! And the soup base looks very thick – must be darn good!
Craftpassion
Wow, what a delicious-mouth-watering Tom Yam!!! After seeing your picture, my stomach is drumming at this time of hour – MIDNIGHT!!!! Lucky me that I can just go out to a road side store to order one, and not have to cook!!!
Emily
This looks great, I love making soup in the winter.
Two questions though… Is this enough for one person? Also, I’d be nervous about saving shrimp heads. How do you store them and for how long?
Thanks.
Laura Lee
You use the shrimp heads immediately to make the stock, so no worries there! This recipe is more than enough for 2 people. Just tried it tonight and it came out perfect!
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks Laura. yes, this Tom Yum Goong recipe is soooo good!
Jesse R.
You can freeze fresh shrimp heads for a few weeks quite safely, but you’re better off boiling the shrimp heads and shells immediately to make the shrimp stock. Extra shrimp stock can be kept for a few months if frozen.
We eat a lot of shrimp in other recipes, so I like to make shrimp stock to keep in my freezer for future Tom Tum.