How to cook thailand soup called tom yam gong ?

Hot & sour shrimp soup - tom yam goong * 4 Servings --8 ounce Shrimp/Prawns, Shelled and Deveined, With Shells Reserved --3 cup Water --2 Cloves Garlic, Minced --5 Kaffir Lime Leaves --3 Thin Slices Fresh Or Dried Galangal (Kha) * --¼ cup Fish Sauce (Nam Pla) --2 Stalks Lemon Grass, Lower 1/3 Portion Only, Cut Into 1" Lengths --2 Sliced Shallots --½ cup Sliced Straw Mushrooms --5 Green Thai Chili Peppers (Prik Khee Noo) Optional --¼ cup Lime Juice --1 tablespoon Chopped Cilantro Leaves --1 teaspoon Black Chili Paste, (Nam Prik Pow) ** * Galangal: A relative of the ginger root, galangal is pale yellow and has a delicate flavor. ** ~-------------------------------------... ~------------- ~-- Rinse the shrimp shells and place them in a large pot with the water. Heat to boiling, strain the broth and discard the shells. Add the garlic, lime leaves, galangal, fish sauce, lemon grass and shallots to the stock, then the mushrooms and chili peppers, if using. Cook gently for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp to the soup, and reheat to boiling. When the shrimp are cooked, place the lime juice and black chili paste in a serving bowl. Pour the soup into the bowl, stir, garnish with the cilantro leaves and serve. ------> or - try this one, it seems a little easier: <-------------- Ingredients 6–8 medium-sized prawns, keep whole or shelled 150g fish fillet, sliced thinly 6 pieces straw mushrooms, halved 100g fresh oyster mushrooms, rinsed 1 litre water 3 stalks lemon grass, smashed 4–5 kaffir lime leaves, crushed 1½ tbsp Thai chilli paste 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce 4 cili padi 3 dried chillies 3 tbsp lime juice (for an extra tangy soup, add a little more) Garnishing Some coriander leaves Method Bring water to a boil. Add lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves and allow to simmer for 5–6 minutes. Put in prawns, fish, all the mushrooms and dried chillies. Cook for 4–5 minutes. Add chilli paste, fish sauce, cili padi and lime juice. Adjust seasoning before serving. Dish out piping hot soup to serve with garnishing. I hope this helps - and ENJOY!

here's the recipe. 500 g med size raw prawns, 1 stalk coriander wtih root, 1/2 tsp black peppercorns, 300 g button mushrooms 3 kaffir limeleaves, 2 stalks fresh lemon grass, 5 cm piece galangal (thai ginger) or any ginger, 4 birds eye chili peppers (small ones and very hot) 4 tbsp lime juice, 4 tbsp fish sauce(nam plah)....preperation time 30 mins. .... 1) Shell the prawns, leaving the tails on and reserve the headsand shells. Remove the dark vein like intestines. 2) put the prawns heads and shells in a large sauce pan and add 1.5 liters of water and bring to boil. Wash the coriander, cut off the root, trim and chop coarsely; reserve the leaves. Put the chopped root and the peppercorns in a mortar and pound with a pestle, or grind them in a food processor.Add them to the prawn stock and cook over meduim heat for 5 to 10 mins. Strain through a fine sieve into another pan. 3) Trim the mushrooms, rinse briefly under cold running water and cut the larger ones in half. Wash the lime leaves and lemon grass. Tear the leaves into quarters, cut the lemon grass into 3 cm lengths and lightly crush both with a knife. Peel and thinly slice the galangal (ginger). 4) wash the chilis, discard the stalks and cut into thin rings. Mix them with the lime and juice fish sauce in a small bowl and set aside. 5)Boil the prawn stock with the lemon grass, lime leaves, and galangal for about 2 mins. over meduim heat. Add the prawns and mushrooms, cover and simmer over low heat for about 3 mins. At this stage, you could remove the galangal( which should not be eaten) and if you like, the lemon grass and lime leaves(which can be eaten if you wish) 6) Stir the chili and lime juice mixture into the soup. Transfer the soup to a serving bowl or individual soup bowls and serve, garnished with the reserved coriander leaves. Hope this helps you.

The easiest way is to buy the soup base and add you own fresh seafood. Shop for the soup base at a store or market with a good asian food section and you should be able to select from more than one manufacturer.

you can buy a ready to cook tom yam gong soup in the supermarket......: )