Ingredients
- 4 large raw shrimp
- 3 teacups of chicken stock
- 200 grams of mushrooms, halved (or fang het het Hunua)
- 1 stalk lemongrass (Takrai) cut into small pieces
- 5 slices of galangal
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons nam pla (fish sauce)
- 5 or 6 small green chili peppers, crushed (not ground) and pestle (or Thai chili "phrik keng nhoo)
- 2 or 3 sheets of makru t (lime)
- A few leaves of fresh cilantro for garnish
Preparation:
- Prepare the shrimp by removing the shell from the body and head. Leave the tail and cut the legs. Make an incision along the lower body.
- Boil the chicken broth.
- Add lemon grass, galangal, mushrooms, peppers and leaves makrut.
- Season with lemon juice and fish sauce.
- Boil for about 3 minutes.
- Taste and adjust any seasoning.
- Cook the shrimp for 2 to 3 minutes in this preparation.
- Prepare and add the coriander leaves to garnish.
Pronounce the 3 syllables of "tom yam kung" in a Thai and you'll see his eyes light up. This is undoubtedly the favorite dish of the Siamese.
The guide very seriously National Geographic reports that a survey conducted by the National Commission on Culture in Thailand in July 1999 among 500 Thai restaurants worldwide, has concluded that the tom yam kung was the favorite dish of the customer.
I chose this dish for these reasons.
This dish is spelled in different variants: one can add garlic, sugar, coconut milk, cream, tomatoes, etc. ...
If you go to a restaurant in Thailand, you can order only soup. This does not seem unusual. You will be asked if you want but also rice. Indeed, the Thais have a habit of eating soup without noodles accompanied by white rice (Khao tammadaa).
If you order other dishes with soup, we do not necessarily serve as the first. By cons, if you serve the soup first, you take the rice at the same time. White rice is in fact routinely used at the beginning of each meal.
At the restaurant, you make the dishes in the order in which they are ready, but white rice is served first. Indeed, the Thai custom, when eating in a group or family, put all the dishes on the table and everyone is then used at his convenience.
Never try to explain our way of serving dishes in a specific order, you will not understand you. Especially, do not get angry, it's the last thing to do in Asia in general and Thailand in particular. You're in a country you must accept the customs. The habits and customs are very strong in the Thai.
This dish was brought to the court of Rama V (Chulalongkorn 1868-1910). During the reign of the reformist monarch who ascended the throne at the age of 15, the cooks of the royal palace had to be innovative to meet distinguished guests, mostly French, English and Portuguese.
