# tom yum gai



## PrincessFiona60 (Feb 26, 2012)

500g (1 pound 2 oz) raw chicken. chopped
1 Tbs oil
2 Tbs red curry paste
8 cups water, divided
2 Tbs tamarind concentrate
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chopped red chili (optional)
4-8 kaffir lime (makrut) leaves, shredded
2 Tbs fish sauce
2 Tbs lime juice
2 tsp brown sugar
10g (¼ oz or 1/3 cup) coriander (cilantro) leaves, for garnish
Red chili, thinly sliced to serve

Heat oil in large saucepan, toss in chicken and brown till done.  Remove  chicken from pan, add 1 cup of water to pan, stir in the curry paste,  scraping fond from pan, boil for 5 minutes to slightly reduce, add 7  cups water and simmer 20 minutes.  Add tamarind, turmeric, chili and  lime leaves.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Add chicken  back to soup, adding  fish sauce lime juice and sugar, stirring to combine.  Serve immediately  garnished with cilantro and chili slices.

Can also be made with shrimp (goong).  Sauté shrimp shells in oil,  remove from oil, adding shrimp after the lime leaves and cooking for 5  minutes, before adding fish sauce and rest.

Adapted from Essential Asian - Murdoch Books


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## Andy M. (Feb 26, 2012)

Thanks, PF.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Feb 26, 2012)

LOL!  I have everything but the lime leaves.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Feb 26, 2012)

That is indeed the problem, Kaffir lime leaves. A reasonable substitute is lime zest. If I move away from L.A. I'm going to order and plant my own Kaffir lime (plant), just for the leaves. (I understand that the fruit is inedible.)


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## Andy M. (Feb 26, 2012)

I'm fortunate to have several Asian markets within easy driving distance.  One is bigger than most supermarkets.  I can find just about everything I need.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Feb 26, 2012)

Andy M. said:


> I'm fortunate to have several Asian markets within easy driving distance.  One is bigger than most supermarkets.  I can find just about everything I need.



I'll run over to International Foods, he makes a weekly run to Spokane and a monthly run to Seattle.  He is great, he will look for anything I ask for and not bump up the price too much, only 10% over what he pays.  He was so anxious about me thinkling he was trying to gouge me, I was shown all his invoices on a few things I ordered.  We now have a trusting relationship and we have a lot of fun trying new things.  He gets excited when I pull up and hauls out anything new for us to nosh on.


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## buckytom (Feb 26, 2012)

yum, fee. thanks. (pun intended)

i usually make my tom yum using a jarred paste, adding water, mushrooms, scallions, and gai or goong. it'll be great to do it from scratch.

have you made this recipe yet?


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## PrincessFiona60 (Feb 26, 2012)

buckytom said:


> yum, fee. thanks. (pun intended)
> 
> i usually make my tom yum using a jarred paste, adding water, mushrooms, scallions, and gai or goong. it'll be great to do it from scratch.
> 
> have you made this recipe yet?



No, I haven't.  Found it in one of my cookbooks when Andy asked.  I am going to try it, though.


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## buckytom (Feb 26, 2012)

it's one of the things i crave when i'm sick. partly because it just seems healthful with all of the vitamin c, partly because it can be sinus clearingly hot, and partly because you can taste it no matter how stuffed your nose is.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Feb 26, 2012)

Does Shrek know about this Tom Yum guy?  It might not be safe to be around when he finds out.  He is an ogre after all.

But seriously, I am happy that you have such a variety of food ingredients to choose from.  In my neck of the woods, I'm ecstatic to find chicken.  Ok, maybe chicken's not that hard to find.  But it's almost that bad.  I do live at the end of the Earth you know.

If it weren't for the wild blueberries, and raspberries, and morell mushrooms, and the shaggy meins, and the puff balls, and the boletes, and the walleye, and the bear, and the deer, and the grouse, and the wild turkeys, and the ducks, and the geese, and the trout, and the perch, and the whitefish, and the venison, and the fiddle heads, and the sarvice berries, and the apples, and the wild hazlenuts, and the choke cherries, and the cowslips, and the wild wintergreen leaves and berries, and the maple syrup, and the exceptional well water, I just would have to find somewhere where you could find food.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## PrincessFiona60 (Feb 26, 2012)

Thanks for that tip, Bucky.  I'll work on remembering it the next time my head is stuffed up!


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## taxlady (Feb 26, 2012)

Chief, you like choke cherries??!


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## PrincessFiona60 (Feb 26, 2012)

Chief Longwind Of The North said:


> Does Shrek know about this Tom Yum guy?  It might not be safe to be around when he finds out.  He is an ogre after all.
> 
> But seriously, I am happy that you have such a variety of food ingredients to choose from.  In my neck of the woods, I'm ecstatic to find chicken.  Ok, maybe chicken's not that hard to find.  But it's almost that bad.  I do live at the end of the Earth you know.
> 
> ...



LOL!  I might be able to convince Shrek to try some.  He's a hard sell for some new things.  At least he likes garlic and onions...


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Feb 26, 2012)

taxlady said:


> Chief, you like choke cherries??!



I have four choke cherry trees in my yard that on alternate years produce a bumper crop of small, pitted cherries, half again the size of a pea.  They are brownish red in color, and are sweet, but with an astringent quality.  They will stain your teeth an ugly brown for a short time.  But they make delicious syrup and jelly/jam.  What's not to like?

There is some discussion about whether or not they are really choke cherries.  But everyone in the U.P. calls them that, and have for at least two generations before me.  I have read though, that choke cherries are almost inedible.  And pictures I've seen don't look like the little beauties growing in my yard, though they are similar.  All I know, is that when I'm picking blueberries in the woods, and happen upon a sarvice berry tree, or a choke cherry tree, that's a bonus.  Oh, and around here, they call sarvice berries - sugar plumbs.  It's a colloquial thing.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## taxlady (Feb 26, 2012)

Chief Longwind Of The North said:


> I have four choke cherry trees in my yard that on alternate years produce a bumper crop of small, pitted cherries, half again the size of a pea.  They are brownish red in color, and are sweet, but with an astringent quality.  They will stain your teeth an ugly brown for a short time.  But they make delicious syrup and jelly/jam.  What's not to like?
> 
> There is some discussion about whether or not they are really choke cherries.  But everyone in the U.P. calls them that, and have for at least two generations before me.  I have read though, that choke cherries are almost inedible.  And pictures I've seen don't look like the little beauties growing in my yard, though they are similar.  All I know, is that when I'm picking blueberries in the woods, and happen upon a sarvice berry tree, or a choke cherry tree, that's a bonus.  Oh, and around here, they call sarvice berries - sugar plumbs.  It's a colloquial thing.
> 
> Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North



That sounds like what I know as a choke cherry. What's not to like? The astringent quality. You feel like you have cotton in your mouth for quite a while afterwards. I'll eat them, but I don't really like them. A friend of mine would describe them as having more "more" than "yum". You keep wanting to eat them even if they aren't wonderful and have that astringent thing going on. Judging by scats, bears really like them 

I also found that you needed a lot of fruit to get a little bit of pulp. Those pits are large compared with the cherries.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Feb 27, 2012)

buckytom said:


> it's one of the things i crave when i'm sick. partly because it just seems healthful with all of the vitamin c, partly because it can be sinus clearingly hot, and partly because you can taste it no matter how stuffed your nose is.



You remind me of what I call "Chinese chicken soup," what they call Wor Wonton Soup. I like to think of it as this chicken and a bunch of shrimp and a pig got in a battle and they all killed each other and died, and then somebody threw a bunch of vegetables on top of them... and the Chinese invented Wor Wonton Soup!

Whatever it is it really cures for me those things that penicillin won't.


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## buckytom (Feb 27, 2012)

i love wor wonton. but in the context my post, this is nearly the exact opposite as far as soups go.

it's _not _a lot of stuff, but a little meat, a bit of hot pepper, and mostly a strong, herb-y, spicey broth. i like to add a few pieces of mushrooms and a bit of chopped scallion.


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## Claire (Feb 27, 2012)

Making a stock using hot chicken wings really makes a great base for this soup.   I always make or order if I'm out, a lot more wings than I can eat, plus save the bones of those I have eaten, gather up the uneaten carrot and celery sticks, add garlic and  onion and make a stock.  It really is a good stock for this soup.


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## Margi Cintrano (Feb 27, 2012)

*Princess Fiona: Wow. This is a must try !*

This recipe is a pleasant surprise ... 

I think it has been Buckytom from New Jersey, who stated that he would like to try to prepare this from scratch --- I too, shall have to look at the recipe and see, how to improvise for the jarred sauces --- If at all possible, otherwise, I shall do same as recipe.
Thanks for the post. 
Margi.


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## Addie (Feb 28, 2012)

Chief Longwind Of The North said:


> Does Shrek know about this Tom Yum guy? It might not be safe to be around when he finds out. He is an ogre after all.
> 
> Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


 
My neice had a cat. She was talking on the phone. the cat jumped up on her bed and was trying to get her attention. She kept telling him to get off the bed. The person who she was talking to wanted to know who she was telling to get off her bed.

"Sum Young Guy" That was the name of the cat. She left it at that and never explained.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Feb 28, 2012)

Addie said:


> My neice had a cat. She was talking on the phone. the cat jumped up on her bed and was trying to get her attention. She kept telling him to get off the bed. The person who she was talking to wanted to know who she was telling to get off her bed.
> 
> "Sum Young Guy" That was the name of the cat. She left it at that and never explained.



Niiiice.

Seeeeeya; 
chief Longwind of the North


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