1st November this year fell on a Tuesday. I could have made a bridge for a longer “weekend”, but could not due to my workload at work 😦
I was glad to break off work for that one day that week for a yearly family reunion, hosted by one of my SIL’s. While driving to my SIL’s, we stopped at a friend’s house. I received a text message from F that she was giving away some of her ‘harvests’ in her garden.
Guess what? I hand-picked the chillies in her garden. They were so, very, very fresh! She wanted only the red ones, so I helped myself to the green chillies. I didn’t mind the ‘raw version’ at all, because I knew if I left the chillies wrapped in absorbent paper in the lower drawer of the fridge, the chillies would ripen.
And I was right!
10 days later, some of the birds’ eye chillies had turned to a lovely bright orange-crimson colour. And I knew exactly where some of the chillies would end up into 😉
Thai Chef vs Me
There was one Wednesday that I took a day off and brought my 2 sons out for lunch (Note, both boys had half-day school / Univ on a Wednesday). We went to a Thai resto near our place.
For starter, I ordered Tom Yum Goong (TYG) for us. It was a good TYG, but I missed that Oomph in their soup. It was a wee bit too lame.
Saturday came, and TYG was in the pipeline for our lunch menu.
So here it was, my version vs the Thai Chef’s.
And not only that, I made my TYG in my thermomix!
To be honest, I could eat my TYG all day without anything else that day, because it had been a while since I last made the soup! I looked back at a post I wrote; it was in March this year when I had friends over. You can read it all … Here 🙂
Because I love bold-tasting soups, I thought of a way to totally infuse the aromatics in the soup first before proceeding further. Be warned! It’s a highly seasoned soup that hits the palate and warms the heart without burning, if you know what I meant 😉
(Note: This is my own recipe using my preferred method – tried and tested – after a few trials and errors).
Please be aware that some measurements are not given as only you will know how much or how little you want to put in the dish. Remember, “Ut quod ali cibus est aliis fuat acre venenum” or what is food for one man may be bitter poison to others.
Ingredients A
- 2 cm piece galangal
- 1 shallot
- 1 lemongrass
- 2 coriander roots
Ingredient B
- 5 g cooking oil / coconut oil
Ingredient C
- 1,500 g water
Ingredients D
- Lemongrass, bruised and halved
- Shallots, halved
- Galangal, sliced
- Bird’s eye chillies, lightly bruised
- Kaffir lime leaves, lightly bruised with the fingers
Ingredients E
- Fish sauce, to taste
- Homemade chilli paste, eyeball for colour, taste and flavour
- Salt, to taste
Ingredients F
- Prawns, shelled
- Mushrooms, sliced
Ingredient G
- Lime juice, to taste
- Cherry tomatoes, halved or whole
Ingredient H
- Fresh coriander
Steps –
- Place A in the TM bowl. Grind 5 sec/ sp 10 * 2
- Add B. Sauté for 3 mins/100C/ sp 2
- Place D in SB and add C. Cook for 15 mins/ 120C/ sp1
- Remove the SB and tip the aromatics in a bowl. Set aside for garnish later.
- Transfer F in the SB. Cook for 4 mins/120C/ sp 1 or until the prawns are cooked.
- Remove the SB and set aside the cooked prawns, mushrooms, etc
- Add E. Cook further for 5 mins/ 120C/ sp 2
- Add G. Stir for 1 min/ R/ spoon.
- Assemble a serving bowl with prawns, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, some slices of galangal, bird’s eye chillies, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Garnish with H.
- Done!
Happy 1st Anniversary!
I made the TYG to go with my Nasi Ulam and baked spiced chicken. Our Saturday lunch was the bomb, by the way, with full-blown explosion of flavours. Yup, my kind of food 🙂
There’s no better way to celebrate my first year anniversary of owning the thermomix than sharing with you some of the dishes I have conjured the past 12 months using my most used kitchen gadget today!
And as they say, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words‘ …
IMPORTANT NOTICE : Please be aware that I’m neither a Consultant/ Advisor nor an employee of Thermomix. I am NOT paid anything from any parties. I just happened to own a thermomix and love doing what I’m doing and will continue doing so.
Happy Mid-Week ya’ll!
Cheers!
By the way ... 