Tom Yum paste is an important ingredient in Tom Yum soup, the Thai wonder. But the paste is itself so delicious that it can be used as a marinade or even as a sauce. If you use the paste to marinate fish, pork or chicken, before baking, frying or grilling them, it makes them taste wonderful. You can buy Tom Yum paste. But if you make the paste fresh at home, it tastes better. And it is not even hard to make. Just find the ingredients, put them into your food-processor and grind them well to make them fine paste, then fry it and your paste is ready.
Tom Yum Paste Recipe
To make approximately threes quarters of a cups of paste, you need:
- 4 tablespoons of finely chopped lemongrass
- 5 flakes of garlic
- 1 ½ inch piece of ginger sliced
- 1 fresh red chilli sliced
- 2 shallots
- A bunch of fresh coriander/cilantro with leaves and stems chopped separately
- 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon of shrimp paste
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 2 teaspoons of palm sugar or brown sugar
- 2-3 spring onions sliced
- a pinch of salt
Tom Yum Paste Notes
Optional: ½ tablespoon of coconut milk, if you want thin tom yum paste. In place of fresh red chilli, you can use ½ to 1 teaspoon of dried crushed chilli or alternately cayenne pepper. The coriander stems are used to make the paste, and leaves are to be used for garnishing the soup. You can use fresh or frozen Lemongrass that is available at Asian food stores. You can find the fish sauce and shrimp paste there too.
Preparation of Tom Yum Paste
After preparing these ingredients, all you need to do is place them in your food chopper or processor and reduce them to a paste. Then after heating a tablespoon of vegetable oil, fry the paste gently for 4-5 minutes. Stir it frequently. Remove from the heat when it becomes aromatic. It takes only 10 to 12 minutes.
Using Tom Yum Paste
To make soup using this paste, add a few spoons of the paste to a pot of boiling chicken stock. Keep on tasting the soup as you add the paste until you get the flavor you desire. Instead of salt, you can add more fish sauce. Shrimp, tofu and vegetables of your liking can be added now, after which coconut milk can be added to make a creamier soup.
If you wish to use this paste as a marinade, you can use it for six pieces of fish or chicken. It adds excellent taste to shrimp or any other shellfish or seafood, and pork. To use this paste as a marinade, just spread it over the food and cook.
To use Tom Yum paste as a sauce add a little coconut milk, about three quarters of a tablespoon, and just warm it so as to retain the saucy flavor. This thinned Tom Yum paste sauce can be mixed with your entree, like rice or potatoes, for a great flavor.
