PERFECT 'TOM-YAM-KOONG'

It has been a while since we hosted a Thai dinner at home and I was horrified how 'out of touch' I was last night. That said, my Spicy Prawn Soup, one of the Top 10 in Thai cuisine, was very real. It might just be my best ever, for the record. I thought I would share this recipe, it is quite easy.

* home made chicken or vegetable stock 1.5 cup
* 2 stems of lemon grass, crushed & sliced
* 1" of galangal, thinly sliced
* 1/2 cup of fresh straw mushrooms cut into halves
* 6 medium size prawns, shelled & deveined
* 2 kiffir lime leaves, stems removed & torn in small segments
* sawtooth coriander, sliced

The seasoning sauce is comprised of : fish sauce 3-4 teaspoons, lime juice 2-3 teaspoons, and the 'Piece de Resistance' .... 10-12 crushed small hot chilies, that means at least 10, ideally 12. Get it? If a thicker soup is preferred add 1 teaspoon of roasted chili paste aka Nam Prik Pow and 1/4 cup coconut cream. All this should be pre-mixed and set aside.

Professor Wandee made me promise that I will not change her recipe 'to suit local tastes' and I observe that like a Commandment. When a guest says 'I like Thai, but not too hot though, can you scale it down' my answer is 'how about a French or Chinese meal instead'.

The cooking method is straight forward : start with the stock, add lemon grass & galangal, bring to a boil. It is important the pot stays open, and never covered. Add the mushrooms & prawns but DO NOT STIR, let them come to a boil again. At full boil, pour in the seasoning sauce mixture, add kiffir lime leaves, sawtooth coriander .... take the pot off the heat and garnish with coriander.

Tom Yam Koong, directly translated as 'soup-spicy-prawns' is a great entree for any Asian theme dinner. Try it!