Pastes can now be bought in supermarkets and they’re not bad – I use them happily, but the flavours are lemongrass, lime leaves, tamarind and chilli.
This is classically prawn (Tom Yam Kung) or chicken (Tom Yam Kai). If using chicken put it in during the first 20 minutes and if using prawns add them for the last 5.
Method
Place chicken stock, ginger, garlic, lemongrass and lime leaves in a pan and gently simmer to infuse the flavours for 20 minutes or so
Add the rest of the ingredients and gently simmer for another 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 pints chicken stock
- 3 lemongrass stalks, split or bash them up a bit
- 4 kaffir lime leaves
- 1 tsp chopped fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- Cubed chicken or whole raw prawns
- 1 sliced chilli
- 1 tblsp tamarind paste
- 2 tblsp fish sauce (nam pla) or to taste
- Chopped fresh coriander
- Juice of 2 limes
- 2 tomatoes quartered
