Tom Yum Gai (Hot and Sour Chicken Soup) or Goong (Prawns) with Vegetables

This fragrant and healthy, hot and sour Thai soup is deliciously simple and tasty, and what's more you can make it into a filling meal with the addition of rice or noodles

This is a really tasty Thai soup, which you can make a healthy meal of by adding a few optional vegetables, and even some rice or noodles in the bottom of the bowl before you ladle on your soup, if you want something really hearty (if a little inauthentic)! Keep it minimal for a great starter to a Thai meal.

You can make this with prawns instead of chicken if you prefer, adding them right at the end to make Tom Yum Goong, the popular prawn version of the dish (you can even make the stock up from the prawn shells, cooking them in a little oil until pink, then adding a litre of water and simmering for 20 minutes before straining), or make a vegetarian version with vegetable stock and add tofu to it for the protein element.

A more recent version of the soup, Tom Yum Nam Khon involves adding some coconut milk to the finished broth (usually when making with prawns), and a small amount of toasted dried chillies, if you fancy something a bit creamier - just splash some in at the end - you could also use 100g creamed coconut, or to taste, whizzed into the stock.

For the Thermomix instructions for this recipe, see here.

Serves four to six, from 211 calories per serving for a quarter portion (served between four), or 141 calories for a sixth portion, made with home made curry paste and skinless chicken breast and vegetables as stated.  

With prawns - 181 calories per serving for a quarter portion.

With tofu - 177 calories per serving for a quarter portion.

Add on 165 calories per portion, per 50g raw rice, or if you want a filling soup without the extra calories, you could use konjac / magic / slim noodles for only a few extra calories. Rice or beanthread noodles would be delicious with this too. [Calories in square brackets]

Ingredients

• 400g skinless chicken breast and / or thigh meat (raw or cooked) [400g raw breast is 440 calories; 400g raw thigh is 644; 400g mixed skinless cooked steamed / roast meat is 668 calories] OR 400g large prawns, peeled and de-veined [320] OR 400g tofu [304]
• 800ml chicken stock (use vegetable for vegetarian)  [40]
• 15g oil if making your own Tom Yum paste (e.g. coconut oil, sunflower, macadamia etc.) [135]
• 1 quantity of my easy home made Tom Yum paste (see here - also see below for ingredients only) [84]

OR

• 50-100g Tom Yum paste from a jar (we used a Tesco own brand to test it with as an alternative, which was OK but obviously not as good as freshly made!) [56-112 calories]

400g vegetables (optional), e.g.

• 175g baby sweetcorn [42]
• 100g red bell pepper (one) [31]
• 125g green beens (e.g. French, fine etc.) [31]

To finish

• 5-10g palm sugar (or other unrefined sugar) to taste [20-40]
• Fish sauce to taste (I use 2 tbsp - use light soy sauce or tamari for vegetarian version) [14]
• Lime juice to taste (preferably fresh, I use 2 tbsp) [6]
• Handful of fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped [2]

For a heartier dish

• Optional rice or noodles to go in the bottom of the bowl (200g raw rice for 4 people, e.g. Jasmine rice - or use rice / beanthread / konjac noodles if you prefer, cooked separately and added to soup bowls when serving) [660] 

Tom Yum Paste ingredients, if making

• 2 lemon grass stalks (c25g, or 2-3 tsp lemon grass paste) [25]
• 5 small oriental red shallots, or 2-3 medium/large shallots (80g) [19]
• 5 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves (you could substitute the grated zest of 2 limes) [10]
• Stalks from 1 bunch of coriander (stalks from a 100g pack will give you 45g, you can use the leaves in and on the soup to serve) [10]
• 2-3cm knob of galangal (or ginger root) [4]
• 1-6 bird's eye chillies (or use 1-4 large red chillies, de-seeded)* [3-13]

Method

1. Remove all visible fat from the raw chicken (if using), and dice into large bite-size pieces. Dice cooked chicken into large bite-size pieces, if using (and if using prawns, ensure you have removed the black vein down the back of each prawn with a sharp knife). Set aside.

2. Chop up any vegetables as necessary (baby sweetcorn are fine whole or halved, green beans I cut in half to make them more bite-size, peppers cut into strips, or bite-size diamonds etc., broccoli in half or quarters depending on the thickness of the stalk etc.), and chop up the coriander roughly and set aside.

3. If serving with rice, put this on first, and cook according to instructions. If you're serving with rice noodles etc., put these on in a separate pan or bowl for the last five minutes / according to the instructions too.

4. If making your own easy Tom Yum paste, as in the ingredients / method here, on the last 'whizz' of the food processor add the 15g of oil, to incorporate it, then cook out in a large pan over a medium heat for a few minutes until fragrant (you don't need to cook out paste from a jar of ready-made, as it is already cooked).

5. Add the stock to the paste in the pan together with 1tsp of the palm sugar, and bring to a boil, then simmer for five minutes.

6. Add the vegetables to the pan if using, and cook for 3-5 minutes (5 minutes if using cooked chicken or prawns / tofu), then add the chicken (or prawns / tofu) and simmer everything for a few more minutes until the chicken is cooked through and tender (test a piece by removing and cutting in half).

7. Taste the broth. Add fish sauce (or light soy / tamari for vegetarian) and fresh lime juice to taste and stir in (if anything seems too salty, remember you can just add extra hot water) until you're happy with the balance of flavours.

8. If serving rice or noodles, divide between the bowls, top with the vegetables and diced chicken (use a slotted spoon to lift them out of the pan), pour the remaining stock into each bowl carefully, scatter with coriander and serve. Enjoy!