Tom yum goong

As tradition built it

Serves 4 to 5. About 30 minutes.

Ingredients

• 600g large prawns, shell on
• 1 thumb sized piece galangal, 4 lemongrass stalks, 4 kaffir lime leaves galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf
• 10 bird's eye chillies
• 7 spur chillies
• 1 tbsp nam prik pao
• 1.5 cups fresh coconut cream, or evaporated milk
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 6 small shallots
• 6 to 8, halved or quartered mushrooms

Method

1. Boil the prawn shells and heads briefly, around 5 minutes, with a pinch of salt, for the base stock.
2. Add the galangal, lemongrass, shallot, bruised bird's eye and spur chillies and kaffir lime leaf, and boil 1 to 2 minutes to extract aroma before anything else goes in.
3. Stir in the nam prik pao until fully dissolved.
4. Add the prawns and mushrooms, and simmer briefly, no more than a minute or two, since overcooked prawn turns tough.
5. Add the coconut cream or milk, fish sauce and sugar.
6. Take the pot off the heat, switch off the burner, then stir in the lime juice. Boiling lime juice turns it bitter.

What a modern chef changes

The stock built with real clarity, and the timing rule taken seriously.

Rung 6

Method

1. Consider building the prawn shell stock in a sous vide bath, sealed with the aromatics at a controlled low temperature for an extended time, extracting flavour without ever reaching a boil, avoiding the bitterness a hard boiled shell stock can pick up.
2. Strain through a chinois before finishing, for a clean, clear base under the coconut enrichment.
3. Never let the pot return to the boil after the lime juice goes in. This is the single most important timing rule in the whole dish.