Thai Tom Yum Soup (Tom Yum Goong)

An easy, flavorful, and comforting Tom Yum Goong recipe (Thai hot and sour soup) made from scratch with shrimp, vegetables, mushrooms, snow peas, fresh lemongrass, fresh lime juice, and glass noodles.

What is Tom Yum Goong Soup?

Tom yum goong is essentially the classic tom yum soup, (a hot and sour soup that originates from Thailand) but made with shrimp! This Thai hot and sour soup is loaded with lemongrass and lime flavor and has the perfect balance of salty and sour, and sweetness.

Traditionally, tom yum soup is not served with mung bean glass noodles but I love adding it in because the noodles absorb some of the soup and it's always fun to slurp up springy noodles in soup.

To make this a vegan or vegetarian version, you can simply skip adding in the shrimp or substitute the shrimp with tofu.

If you're looking for a creamy version of this soup, then try Tom Kha (or Tom Kha Gai, which has chicken) is the sister version of this delicious dish. Tom kha has the same base as tom yum with the addition of coconut milk.

Ingredients and Substitutes for Tom Yum Soup

• Broth - You can use any type of broth for this recipe (chicken, vegetable, or seafood). Try to find a good quality low-sodium one.
• Lemongrass - For this recipe, you will need fresh lemongrass stalks. Do not use pre-ground lemongrass, because it is very difficult to strain out from the soup. I also don't recommend using lemongrass powder for this soup.
• Kaffir Lime Leaves - These leaves have a strong fresh citrus aromatic flavor and scent. You can usually find fresh ones at an Asian grocery store or online. I personally think it is very difficult to substitute so if you can't find it, then add an extra stalk of lemongrass instead.
• Galangal - Galangal has a fresh pine-needle flavor and scent. If you cannot find it, omit it. Do not substitute it with ginger since it has a completely different flavor.
• Nam Prik Pao (Thai Chili Paste) - I found it very difficult to find Thai Chili Paste (Nam Prik Pao), especially if you don't know how to read Thai because most of the jars do not actually say 'Nam Prik Pao' and instead they all said Chili Paste or Chili Paste with Oil. When you are shopping for it at the Asian grocery store, look for something that says Chili Paste in Oil or Chili Paste and read the ingredients. You want to see tamarind in there and you want to see the word shrimp/fish sauce/anchovy, and you want to see the word chilies. It should be a dark brown color as well. Some might have oil, some might not.
• Vegetables - The sky is the limit with the type of vegetables to add to this soup but a few favorites I like to add are: mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, button or straw), tomatoes cut into wedges, pineapple, and snow peas.

How to Make This Thai Hot and Sour Soup

Prepare everything ahead of time

Lemongrass is super flavorful but most of the flavors don't come out unless you break it up a bit to release its oils. This rule applies to most fresh herbs. So I like to usually rip my herbs before I use them but because lemongrass is thick and tough, the best way to release its oils is to smash it! You'll know it's good when you can smell it.

Devein the Shrimp (Optional)

I personally do not think you have to devein shrimp but this is a personal preference and some do prefer to devein their shrimp before eating it. If you want to devein your shrimp before you use it, I have a guide on how to Devein Shrimp in Seconds using a toothpick! Head on over to that post if you want to read how I quickly devein my shrimp at home when I need to!

Make the Soup, and Discard the Aromatics

Once the broth is done, discard the aromatics - Before you serve the tom yum goong soup, fish out the kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and galangal. They are tough to chew and are not meant to be eaten - it's only used to flavor the broth

Turn Off the Heat Before You Season the Soup

To make sure the soup is flavored exactly the way I want it, I add my salty, sweet, and sour flavors at the very end when the heat is off. I find that if you keep the heat on while you put the lime juice in, it cooks away all the lime oils and makes it taste less flavorful.

I like my soup slightly more on the spicy salty side, some people might like it a lot more sour - so I provided a guideline for the final flavoring but it is crucial to taste test at the end and adjust this to your liking.

More Thai Recipes You May Like

• Yum Woon Sen (Thai Glass Noodle Salad)
• Easy Tom Kha Gai Soup (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup)
• Easy Thai Peanut Satay Sauce
• Pad Woon Sen (Thai Glass Noodle Stirfry)
• Thai Basil Turkey Fried Rice
• Grilled Thai Coconut Chicken Skewers
• Easy Khao Soi (Thai Coconut Curry Noodle Soup)
• Creamy Thai Red Curry
• Thai Peanut Sauce (From Scratch)
• Thai Meatballs
• Thai Basil Chicken (Pad Krapow Gai)

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Recipe Card

Tom Yum (Thai Hot and Sour Soup)

A comforting Tom Yum Goong recipe for a Thai spicy hot and sour soup made with shrimp, vegetables, and glass noodles to make it into a heartier more filling soup that can be eaten as a meal as well.

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Course: Soup

Cuisine: Thai

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

2 Servings

5 from 6 votes

Made with ♡ by Joyce

Recipe Notes

• When shopping locally for Nam Prik Pao, there might not be a lot of brands that have English on it and the majority of them will not say 'Nam Prik Pao' on the label in English. Look for jars that say 'Chili Paste' or 'Chilli Paste in Oil'. It should contain tamarind, shrimp/anchovy/fish sauce, and chilies in the ingredients list.
• Depending on what brand of chili paste (Nam Prik Pao) you buy, they come with varying spiciness level. Add the chili paste ½ a tablespoon at a time doing a taste test each time until it is the right amount of spiciness for you. 
• Galangal has a fresh and pine-needle flavor and scent and is hard to substitute. If you cannot find it, omit it. Do not substitute it with ginger since it has a completely different flavor.
• If you have extra fresh kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, or galangal, you can store them in the freezer in a Ziploc bag for a few months
• If you are using frozen shrimp, make sure you thaw it completely before cooking it. It is very easy to overcook shrimp if it is still frozen.
• For this recipe, you will need fresh lemongrass stalks. Do not use pre-ground lemongrass, because it is very difficult to strain out from the soup. I also don't recommend using lemongrass powder for this soup.
• I personally think it is very difficult to substitute kaffir lime leaves so if you can't find it, then add an extra stalk of lemongrass instead.
• Thai chili paste alone is very spicy. If you don't want your soup overly spicy you can omit the birds' eye chili.

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Ingredients

 

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Tom Yum Soup Base

• ▢ 900 ml low sodium broth (chicken, vegetable or seafood)
• ▢ 1 cup water
• ▢ 2 stalks lemongrass (smashed and cut into chunks)
• ▢ 8-10 kaffir lime leaves
• ▢ 2 inch galangal (sliced)
• ▢ 1 medium onion (roughly chopped or sliced)
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic (smashed and roughly chopped)
• ▢ 1 birds eye chili (optional, see notes above)

Tom Yum Soup Flavoring (Use These at the End)

• ▢ 1 tablespoon Thai Chili Paste (Nam Prik Pao, see notes above)
• ▢ 2-3 limes (¼ cup of lime juice, add more to adjust to taste)
• ▢ 3 tablespoons fish sauce (add more to adjust to taste)
• ▢ 3 ½ teaspoon sugar (add more to adjust to taste)

Foods to Add

• ▢ 6 whole shrimp
• ▢ 1-2 bundles dried bean thread noodles (soaked in room temperature water)
• ▢ 1 handful mushrooms (cremini or white)
• ▢ 1 handful snow peas

Additional Ideas for Foods to Add (Pick and Choose)

• ▢ any type of green vegetable (choy, shredded lettuce, peppers etc)
• ▢ fresh tomato (cut into chunks and added at the end)
• ▢ fresh pineapple chunks (cooked during the shrimp cooking step)
• ▢ Thai basil (as a fragrant garnish)

Instructions

 

Preparation

• (Optional if Adding Glass Noodles) Soak the glass noodles in room temperature water for 10 minutes and then drain and set aside.
• Remove the first layer of the lemongrass and cut them into large chunks. Use the back of your knife or something blunt like a rolling pin to smash it to release the oils.
• Slice the onions and roughly chop the garlic and set it aside.
• Slice the galangal and place it in the pot
  
• Cut the vegetables and mushroom into bite-sized pieces and set aside
• If you are using frozen shrimp, thaw it before using it.

  Peel the shrimp and remove the head but keep the tail on. Set the shells aside for later.

  Alternatively, you can keep the heads and shells on as well.

  (Optional) Devein the shrimp and set aside
  
• (Optional) If you are using chilies, cut the chilies in half and set them aside.

Making the Tom Yum Soup

• Rip the kaffir lime leaves in half and place it in the soup pot.
• Place the lemongrass, onions, galangal, and garlic into the pot.
• If you have shrimp skin and shrimp heads, add that to the pot as well.
• Add the broth and water into the pot and set the pot on medium-high heat until it starts to boil
• Once it starts to boil, adjust the heat to low heat and put a lid on it. Simmer it for 30 minutes

Putting It Together

• Once 30 minutes is up, taste the broth. It shouldn't have any saltiness to it but it should have some citrus flavor from the lemongrass and lime leaves.

  If it doesn't, cook it for another 10-15 minutes.
• Once you have finished cooking the broth, remove all the aromatics, shrimp skin, and shrimp head. They are not meant to be eaten, only to flavor the soup.
  
• Turn the heat back up to medium
• Add the chili paste ½ tablespoon at a time, and do a taste test to make sure it is not too spicy.

  Add up to 1 ½ tablespoons, until it is the right amount of spiciness for you.
• Put in the vegetables and mushrooms and cook them for 1-2 minutes.
• Add in the shrimp and cook it for 1-1 ½ minutes.

  Shrimp cooks very quickly, as long as it is fully thawed.
• Turn off the heat
• Add in the fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar.

  Stir and taste. Adjust it to your liking. (Add more lime juice if you like it tart etc)

  **Adding the lime juice and fish sauce in after the heat has been turned off, retains the flavor better.
  
• If you are using glass noodles, add them to the pot of soup and let them cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Ladle it into a bowl and enjoy! 🙂
  

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 907kcal | Carbohydrates: 135g | Protein: 82g | Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 3720mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 13g

*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*

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