Tom Yum Talay
Thai for "Seafood soup"
If you enjoy seafood then try this recipe. It's all over the internet with various ingredients. I've made it many times and have chosen my ingredients over time and testing.
And you'll need to get off your arse and find an Asian food market for some of the ingredients. And when you say "but I will not use all the special ingredients before they go bad!" I freeze the extra lemon grass, galangal and kaffir lime leaf. I keep it next to the frozen squid, mussels, fish and shrimp I get from Walmart. (The Thai chilies can be dried.) No excuses, get to it!
Tom Yum Talay Thai for "Seafood soup"
3 cups water (more is fine, makes a great broth)
1-2 pcs fresh lemon grass, tough tops cut off, cut into 3" lengths and smash
3 pcs garlic, smashed
4 small pieces galangal
1 tsp of sea salt
3-4 pcs fresh kaffir lime leaf
handful of oyster mushrooms
4+ fresh Thai chilies (dry chilies are also fine)
1 tsp Fish sauce (more or less depends on your taste)
Fresh tomato, sliced lengthwise into 6 pieces
Add all the above to the pot and gently simmer for 15-20 minutes (gently being the key word)
While the pot is "gently" simmering defrost the following:
a few mussels
some squid (I buy
Aqua Star Reserve Calamari Rings & Tentacles from Walmart)
8 oz fish (I like a white fish, but not tilapia)
1/4 lb small to medium-sized raw shrimp,
Rinse the seafood before adding to soup. Turn up pot to high 1 minute before adding seafood, when it starts boiling it's done.
Then add lime juice to taste, this can be overpowering so add and taste, add and taste
2 limes, juiced (add to taste)
garnish with cilantro
Served with rice.
And , you're not eating the lemon grass, galangal and kaffir lime leaf, it's just there for flavor. I fish them out just before I add the seafood. And if you've never used fish sauce you'll be in for a real treat when you open the bottle! (Yeah, it's supposed to smell like that!)