Tom yum goong, or hot and sour soup with prawns is the ultimate Thai spicy soup. The heat of the chilli combined with zing of the lime juice is guranteed to clear your head! Tom yum is great as a starter and a very adaptable dish. If you are not so fond of prawns you could substitute them for chicken or your favourite fish.

Ingredients

• 15 fresh black tiger prawns
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 stems lemon grass, chopped diagonally
• 5 slices of galangal
• 200g straw mushrooms
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 5-6 Thai chillies, lightly crushed
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• handful of coriander leaves for garnish

Method

• 1. Shell and de-vein prawns, wash clean.
• 2. Bring stock to the boil. Add lemongrass, kaffir lime leave and galangal, boil to release flavours. Add prawns (or your choice of meat) and mushrooms. Boil until prawns are cooked (approx. 5 minutes, or longer if using other meat).
• 3. Season with fish sauce, chillies, and lime juice.
• 4. Garnish with coriander. Serve piping hot.