Tom yum

Tom yum or tom yam (UK: /ˌtɒm ˈjæm, - ˈjʌm/, US: /- ˈjɑːm/; Thai: ต้มยำ, RTGS: tom yam [tôm jām] ) is a family of hot and sour Thai soups. The strong hot and sour flavors make it very popular in Thai cuisine. The name tom yam is composed of two words in the Thai language. Tom refers to the boiling process, while yam means mixed. Historian Giles Milton contends that the origins of tom yum can be traced back to India, where there is a variation of hot and sour shrimp soup known as sour prawn soup. In Thailand, tom yam is available in various types, with the most popular being tom yam nam khon (creamy tom yam soup), and tom yam nam sai (clear tom yam soup). This soup features a variety of main ingredients, including shrimp, pork, chicken, and seafood.
The soup base depends on the exact sub-type but is generally water, coconut milk, or chicken or other broth.
Various aromatic ingredients are sliced, roughly pounded, and simmered to extract their flavor. These include fresh ingredients such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, chilis. For shrimp-based soups, shrimp shells and heads may also be simmered, to extract their flavor. These ingredients are often then removed as their flavor is now extracted and many aren't edible. However they may be left in, as an aid to presentation.
Alternatively, commercial tom yum paste may be used. This is made by crushing all the herb ingredients and stir-frying them in oil, then adding seasoning and other preservative ingredients. The paste is bottled or packaged and sold around the world.
In modern popular versions the soup may also contain mushrooms—usually straw mushrooms or oyster mushrooms.
Various meats are added next, commonly fish, shrimp, mixed seafood, pork, or chicken.
When the meat is cooked, final flavorings whose taste is destroyed by heat, such as fish sauce and lime juice, are added. For most varieties a paste called nam phrik phao (Thai: น้ำพริกเผา) is also added, made from shrimp, chilis, shallots, and garlic. This imparts sweet, salty, and spicy tastes.
Yet other ingredients may also be used, depending on the exact variety of tom yam, such as evaporated milk.
The soup is often topped with a generous sprinkling of fresh chopped coriander leaves, and may be served over a serving of rice.
Less well known outside Thailand is tom khlong (ต้มโคล้ง), a spicy sour soup where the sourness does not derive from lime juice but through the use of tamarind. Tom som (Thai: ต้มส้ม) are soups that are also very similar to tom yum but most often do not contain lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves. Depending on the type of tom som, the acidity can be derived from lime juice or from the use of tamarind. Another well-known and popular dish is tom saeb (ต้มแซ่บ), a spicy and sour soup originating from Northeastern Thailand (Isan). It is typically made with pork bones or beef as the main ingredients. Tom saeb is characterized by its bold flavors and fragrant aroma, derived from herbs such as galangal, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves, along with seasonings like lime juice, chili, and fish sauce.
Tom yum, locally spelled as tomyam, is very well-received among Malaysians since its introduction around the 1980s. The cuisine is now considered a must-have on most restaurant menus in Malaysia, especially the peninsular states. As of 2018, the popularity of tom yum and other Thai dishes had brought employment to at least 120,000 south Thai cooks, working restaurants mainly in Selangor state and the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, and owning 5000 to 6000 Thai restaurants throughout the country.