Fragrant mussel tom yum soup recipe

Usually made with shell-on prawns (tom yum goong), tom yum soup is one of the most famous Thai dishes around. This version by MiMi Aye uses mussels, although you could also use clams. The secret is to keep the flavours fresh, sharp and light

Serves 4

Ready in 20 minutes

Ingredients

500g live mussels
2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed of woody bits and thinly sliced
6 kaffir lime leaves, roughly torn
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp palm or brown sugar
1 litre water
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges
4 tsp fish sauce
2 bird’s eye chillies, finely sliced
Handful of coriander leaves

Method

Clean the mussels by rinsing them in running water. De-beard and de-barnacle them if necessary.
Add the lemongrass, lime leaves, salt, sugar and the water to a large saucepan, bring to the boil and add the mussels. Cover with a lid and simmer for five minutes till the mussels open up.
Meanwhile get four soup bowls and squeeze a wedge of lime and add a tsp of fish sauce into each. Divide the sliced chilli between the bowls equally.
Ladle the mussels and the soup into each bowl, garnish with the coriander and serve immediately.

By MiMi Aye, Asian food geek, cook and writer of the blog meemalee’s kitchen

Comments

Kitchen friendly version

Average rating: 4.5/5

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