What makes this more time consuming, but arguably very much better (and more authentic) is the incorporation of Nam Prik Pao (or Thai Chilli and Dried Shrimp sauce/ paste). This is very easy to make - and you can do it once to last quite a few Tom Yams - it will keep in the fridge for up to 3 months or so - but obviously the first time you will add some time to your overall wait to get stuck in.
The basis of both the Nam Prik Pao and the Tom Yam Gung is from Rick Stein's "Far Eastern Odyssey" which is another of my staples when craving spice!
Onto the Nam Prik Pao then......(BTW, have a sterilised Kilner jar/ air-tight jam jar etc ready to go)
I think (judging by the below) that Rick's exact quantities must have actually made enough for about 5 jam jars worth, so I have taken the liberty of quartering all the ingredients!
You will need:
25g Dried red Kashmiri chillies (sounds a lot but online they usually come in 200g bags) - this equates to about 20 odd chillies
10g shrimp paste
15g dried shrimp
10g garlic, finely sliced
40g shallots, finely sliced
15g tamarind pulp
1 tbsp nam pla (fish sauce)
15g palm sugar
30ml sunflower oil
25ml water
Method:
Heat a large wok over high heat, dry (without oil), and add all the dried chillies, tossing them occasionally until they darken and you can noticeably smell them in your kitchen!
Set aside to cool. Once cool, tip into mortar a few at a time and grind to fine powder. (Note - you can do this part in a food processor/ grinder but take special care to ensure that you don't burn the spice - use a pulse method briefly rather than sticking it on long blend)
Take a square of tin foil, put the shrimp paste in the middle, fold over the foil and squash, then fold again to make a flat parcel. Returning the wok to heat, add the parcel and roast the shrimp paste for about 2-3 mins, turning once, then remove and allow to cool
Add all the oil to the wok and then the dried shrimp, fry until begin to colour then remove with a slotted spoon (to retain the oil in the wok), and then put into a food processor
Now add the garlic until golden, remove with slotted spoon and add to food processor
Then the shallots, frying until golden and tip both shallots and the oil now into the processor.
Finally, add your roasted chilli powder, shrimp paste and blend. You should end up with an almost crumbly damp texture, deep red in colour. (Note, I would wash your food processor items pretty fast after this next step!)
Put the mixture in a non-stick pan, adding the tamarind, fish sauce, sugar and 25ml water. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Continue to simmer until the mixture reduces and becomes almost a jam type consistency. Remove from heat and leave to cool. Spoon into air-tight jar(s)
(If you want to make a job lot - go back to Rick's quantities, multiplying everything by 4)
Onto the Tom Yam Gung
You will need to start with:
200g (x4 banana shallots), finely sliced
20g (x7 cloves) of garlic, finely sliced
50g finely chopped galangal or root ginger - this was about 3x 1" pieces of the galangal I had at the time
3 - 4 fat lemon grass stalks, finely sliced (again, note that if doing this with UK supermarket lemongrass, I recommend at least buying 2 packs!)
3 - 4 hot birds eye chillies, finely sliced, seeds in
method for this bit:
You want to bash all the above up into a paste, starting with the garlic and shallots and then adding the rest until they start to break up and form a rough paste.
Note that a food processor is not recommended for this bit by Rick, but also note that this means your finished "broth" will contain the rough paste which some people may not like, although I consider to be an integral part of the experience.
Next bit - you will need:
800ml (2x cans) coconut milk
300ml water
2 tsp palm sugar
4 tbsp nam pla
2 tbsp of your Nam Prik Pao
4 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
Lots of large, raw, peeled prawns
250g mushrooms such as oyster, but any you can get your hands on really will do
4 kaffir lime leaves
4-5 spring onions, finely chopped
8 baby plum tomatoes - halved
Bamboo shoots if you like
Coriander leaves, finely chopped
Method:
- Bring coconut milk and water to gentle simmer in large pan
- Add the Shallots/ garlic/ ginger, lemongrass and chilli paste to the pan and simmer for 2 mins
- Add the sugar, fish sauce, Nam Prik Pao, lime juice and salt and simmer for another couple of mins.
- At this point, I run a seasoning check and adjust if necessary with sugar, lime juice and nam pla.
- When you are satisfied, add the prawns, mushrooms, tomatoes, lime leaves and bamboo shoots if using, and simmer for another couple of mins
- Stir in the Spring onions, then serve in a warmed bowl, with coriander sprinkled over top to garnish and some lime wedges on the side.
Fabulous - and well worth the effort.
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