This is one of the spiciest dishes I have enjoyed. I love the natural ingredients and their domination in the soup which makes the flavours linger for long. The most challenging part of this preparation is to find the many natural ingredients, however in some Asian supermarkets they sell most Thai ingredients in a small pack together, because these are essential ingredients for most Thai dishes.

It is also very versatile. You can enjoy it with or without noodles, or as a clear or red soup. If you add coconut milk it becomes a creamy tom yum soup.

Preparation and cooking time: 40 minutes

Diet: Gluten free, dairy free                     

Serving: serves 2

Ingredients

• 100g prawns, cleaned
• 100g cuttlefish, cleaned and sliced
• 100g fish, sliced
• 1 tomato, cut into 4 pieces
• 50g mushrooms, while straw mushrooms are widely used in Thai cuisine, you can use any kind of mushroom
• 50g turkey berries, cleaned
• 1tsp lime juice
• 2tbsp fish sauce
• 3 small shallots
• 2 small red chillies, cleaned
• 4 dried chillies*
• 1tsp brown sugar
• 1tsp pulp tamarind
• 1 stalk of lemongrass, cut and pound
• 1” galangal, thinly sliced
• 2 kaffir leaves, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1tbsp dried prawns
• 2tbsp oil
• 100g rice vermicelli
• 4 cups water (can be replaced with chicken stock or vegetable stock)
• cilantro and basil leaves to garnish

Instructions

1. Soak the vermicelli in water for 20 minutes and cook in boiling water for 5 minutes. Strain and rinse and keep aside
2. Soak the dried chillies in warm water for 15-20 minutes and remove the seeds.
3. Mix the tamarind with 2tbsp water, extract the juice and remove the seeds.
4. In a mortar or blender, add small shallots, soaked dried chillies, fresh red chillies, brown sugar, tamarind juice, sliced lemongrass, sliced galangal, sliced kaffir leaves, chopped garlic, dried prawns and 1tbsp oil. Blend into a paste.
5. In a wok add 1tbsp oil and heat up. Add the blended paste and sauté well for a minute.
6. Add 4 cups of water and stir well until all the paste is well mixed. Let this to cook for 5 minutes in a low flame with soy sauce.
7. Add all the vegetables, prawns, fish and cuttlefish. Cook for another 5-7 minutes until the vegetables and seafood have cooked well.
8. Add fish sauce and lemon juice according to your taste. Ideally the soup should taste hot and sour.
9. Divide the vermicelli in 2 bowls and pour the soup over the vermicelli.
10. Garnish with cilantro and basil to serve.

This is a great dish to enjoy when you have cough or blocked nose, since it clears up these symptoms in no time!