My Simple Tom Yum Soup

My back still hurts if I over exert myself. So far I have undergone 9 sessions of physiotherapy. There is much improvement but I am still on the long road to recovery. Bearing this in mind, I have to keep my cooking light and simple.

I still have some World Foods Tom Yum Paste in the fridge and I decided to quickly use it up before it expires. As I mentioned in my previous post, the tom yum paste is quite mild. For extra heat, I added 4 cili padi into my soup. I also added one fresh lemongrass, onions, garlic and kafir lime leaves. Fresh is always best and the ready made tom yum paste basically provides a convenient platform for you to work on but for added zing, I feel it best to add fresh aromatics.

You can basically put anything you fancy into the tom yum soup and usually seafood is the popular choice. I went for prawns, chicken fillet, cherry tomatoes, young corn and mushrooms. I did not have to add any salt as the tom yum paste is already salty enough for me. And I forgot about chicken stock hah! hah! I should have put some and then adjusted the tom tum paste accordingly as far as saltiness is concerned. There's always a next time :)

OK, confession time. Another reason I am having this tom yum soup is because I am making an effort to get back into my low carbohydrate eating plan. I have been happily eating carbs (in spite of my earlier pledge) especially so since cooking Ree Drummond on last month's Cook Like a Star. I love pastas, I love rice, I love breads, I love my mee goreng, I love cheesecakes......please somebody stop me! I have put on quite a bit of weight (adding on to the additional 15lbs I put back on sobs! double sobs! make that a triple!) and with my current restricted mobility, I can't exercise making things worse :(

I hope that I am on to a good start, but I am not going to be so extreme as to cut off my favorite carbs entirely. Moderation is the key word here. I will allow myself carbs but in limited amounts. There's no point depriving myself as this will lead me to rebel and break my resolve. Anyway, I was happy with my simple but very filling tom yum soup. And one of these days, I am going to make my own tom yum paste.

Tom Yum Soup
Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :
- 1 litre water
- 2 chicken stock cubes (I forgot about this and will put in future)
- 3 tablespoons ready made tom yum paste (or to taste)
- 1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
- 4 kafir lime leaves
- 1 big onion, cut into wedges
- 2 big cloves garlic, sliced
- Chicken fillet, cut into cubes
- Prawns, cleaned and feelers removed
- Young corn
- Cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
- Bunashimeiji mushrooms
- 4 cili padi, bruised (optional, only of you want some heat)
- Salt or fish sauce to taste (if your soup is not salty enough)

Method :
1. Put water into a pot and add lemongrass, kafir lime leaves, onions, garlic, cili padi, chicken stock cubes and tom yum paste. Bring to  boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.
2. Bring the soup up a to a boil and add chicken fillet, young corn, cherry tomatoes and simmer briefly until chicken is cooked.
3. Bring soup to a boil again and add prawns and mushrooms and continue to simmer until prawns are cooked.
4. Taste and add salt/fish sauce if necessary.
5. Serve immediately.