Prawn Tom Yum Soup with Coconut Milk
Tom Yum Soup is a Thai hot and sour soup that is quick to cook, easy to prepare & tastes fantastic as a starter or a light main course meal.
When I say quick, it takes just 10 minutes to prepare, 5 if you are in a hurry, and just 10 minutes to cook!
Thai Hot and Sour Prawn Soup
I love cooking with prawns, and I always have some in the freezer. They are a wonderful ingredient that can be used in a huge variety of cuisine types to create an easy and quick but special meal.
I have everything from Indian prawn curry to harissa prawns with North African influences and Italian-influenced prawn and lemon risotto.
Here, just like my Thai red prawn curry, chicken and prawn soup and prawn Panang curry, I am channelling flavours from Thailand.
Tom yum soup is a much-loved dish, and this recipe takes the hot, sweet, sour and salty flavours of the region and gives them my interpretation.
Traditionally, when this dish gets its creamy finish, it is thanks to evaporated milk. I've tried it, and it is not my thing; as a result, I use coconut milk.
It's quick and easy to cook and weighs in at less than 20 minutes, but tastes like you've spent hours in the kitchen!
Frequently Asked Questions
What tom yum paste is best to use?
I usually use one of three brands. Lobo or Maesri are my usual go-to choices as they are readily available and pretty good.
The third is less readily available, but it is the best that I have tried, and that is Maepranom.
However, use whatever you can get and if needs be, add more lemongrass, ginger or galangal and lime to get the balance where you want it to be.
Can I use Thai red curry paste?
Yes, using Thai red curry paste will deliver a great-tasting dish; it will be different but no less tasty!
This is particularly useful if you are not planning to use tom yum paste very often.
Can I store Thai curry pastes?
Yes, they freeze perfectly! Drop them into ice cube trays, freeze and then transfer them to a freezer bag.
They are good for up to 3 months. Generally speaking, you will get around 15g of curry paste in a "normal" ice cube tray. Use 3 in each curry or soup for two.
What prawns should I use?
I usually use frozen raw prawns and defrost them by dropping them in a colander and running them under cold water for 5 minutes.
This is made with some size 16-20 prawns, the number refers to how many prawns there are per pound. They are also often sold as "jumbo" prawns.
Can I use pre-cooked prawns?
Yes, again defrost them before dropping them in the sauce, but they only need to be heated through. So add them right at the very end and warm them through.
Serving Suggestions
I tend to eat tom yum soup as a light main course meal and, as a result, don't usually serve it with anything else.
However, it is also wonderful as part of a multi-course meal; you could do the whole grazing thing. Serving it with dishes like my Thai-inspired chicken wings, Thai Tuna fish cakes, and some Poh Pia or Thai spring rolls.
It also makes a nice starter for dishes like my Thai green fish curry, or Thai chicken stir fry.
If you wanted a salad, how about my spicy cucumber salad?
Equipment Used
I only mention specific brands of equipment if I think they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Hob/stovetop.
- Wok.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, measuring cups and or spoons.
- Sieve or colander if you need to defrost the prawns quickly.
Tom Yum Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g Large Prawns 9oz
- 50 g Tom Yum Paste 2½-3 tablespoon
- 500 ml Chicken Stock 2 Cups
- 2 Spring Onions
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 35 g Ginger 1 Thumb Sized Piece
- 100 g Mushrooms 1⅓ Cup
- 165 ml Coconut milk ⅔ Cup
- 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cooking Oil
- 1 Medium Tomato 125g
- 1 tablespoon Lime Juice
- 1 Red Chilli Pepper
- 1 Handful Chopped Coriander
Instructions
- Finely slice the chilli.
- Peel and cut the ginger into batons as finely as you can.
- Slice the mushrooms into 3-4mm (⅛") thick slices.
- Cut the spring onions into 1cm (just under ½") long slices.
- Cut the tomato into 8 wedges, then deseed them.
- Peel and slice the garlic as finely as you can.
- Heat a wok over a high heat. When hot, add the oil and the tom yum paste, then fry for 30 seconds.
- Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer.
- Add in the ginger, fish sauce, spring onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, and prawns, then cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk, lime juice, and brown sugar, stir and cook for a final minute or two.
- Serve with chopped coriander and fresh chilli.
Absolutely love this Soup! Thanks for sharing.❤️
Glad you liked it Amy 🙂
Haha. I do get your point here Brian. I hope you are having plenty of breathing space this week and finding more suitable eye-candy. As for this soup, what is not to like. A bought paste is handy, but I'll be checking out your homemade version too. Oh and, it's great that alongside the red curry paste there's plenty of other spices involved in this soup too.
This soup looks incredible, I literally love every ingredient although they are not all easy to find in Italy. I so miss fresh coriander and it always dies on me when I try to grow it. I'll maybe try adapting it slightly.
This is one of my all time favorite recipes! This soup is simply the best!!!
Really like your version of tom yum soup! I think my boyfriend would love this recipe!
Really like your version of tom yum soup! I think my boyfriend would love this recipe!
Thanks Pretty
This is one of my all time favorite recipes! This soup is simply the best!!!
Mine too.
Thai is my absolute favorite too - many years ago I learned how to cook several dishes, it was such fun, and SO tasty! this looks warm and comforting...
Thanks Kristina
This soup looks incredible, I literally love every ingredient although they are not all easy to find in Italy. I so miss fresh coriander and it always dies on me when I try to grow it. I'll maybe try adapting it slightly.
Coriander can be challenging to grow, the problem we have is to stop it bolting to seed and it is often a real headache. I totally get the problems sourcing ingredients, I am in Rural Hungary and most folk have no idea what lemon grass and kafir lime leaves are 😉 I make the 320km round trip to Budapest once every 4-6 weeks to keep my pantry stocked up. It is not necessarily a sub but coriander and tamarind have a similar zingy profile so using a little in this soup would take it somewhere else but would still work really well.
Haha. I do get your point here Brian. I hope you are having plenty of breathing space this week and finding more suitable eye-candy. As for this soup, what is not to like. A bought paste is handy, but I'll be checking out your homemade version too. Oh and, it's great that alongside the red curry paste there's plenty of other spices involved in this soup too.
It is nice not to be barraged by perfectly nice ingredients being turned into macabre crap 😉 I'm perfectly comfortable being a combination store bought/homemade cook, I do like making my own bases but sometimes there just aint that time and I am blessed with lots and lots of time, not all people are so fortunate.