Spicy Tom Yam

What's a Tom Yam? 

One of many Thai soups - and from my limited, but growing, knowledge of Thai cuisine - one that is...simple to make. Boil water. Add flavourings. Add veggies. Pronto.  

It's flavoured by the usual Thai suspects: lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, alliums. It also calls for a fresh red chili, smashed, which...goes a long way in the route of spicy. And this vegan version has all kinds of veggies and fungi...including, in this case, the bat-ear mushroom. 

Crunchy like a liver. And almost strange...

Aside from the small dose of mushroom sauce and soy sauce, it's all...very light. Watery, as opposed to soupy, and yet so flavourful...and loaded with veggies. Paired with fruits, one of the more perfect breakfasts.

Feeds two

Ingredients:

1 lemongrass, cut into 4-inch wide bits

3x3 inch galangal, sliced

2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded from the midrib (to diffuse its most amount of flavour)

1 fresh red chili, smashed

1 small shallot, peeled and crushed

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 bat-ear mushroom, roughly sliced

4 wild mushrooms, shredded

4 Oyster mushrooms, sliced in big chunks 

4x4 inch firm tofu, cubed in big chunks 

1 small tomato, cubed

1 small carrot, sliced horizontally 

1½ cups of water 

1 tb of soy sauce 

1 tb of mushroom sauce 

2 tbs of lime juice 

1 tsp of brown sugar 

A pinch of sea salt 

3 tbs of roughly chopped cilantro

Creative Steps:

Add the water to a pot, bring to a boil and then add the lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallot, kaffir lime leaves and chili. After 2 to 3 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients except for the cilantro. Continue to cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the carrot is soft but slightly crunchy. Remove the pot from the heat and throw in the cilantro. Let cool a bit, eat mindfully...and enjoy!