TBK cooks three Thai meals cooked by my three Thai boys - Part three- Tom Yum Seafood Soup and Oak is back

 

First some very good news which I received at 3 am on the first of July from Max- the lockdown ended and everything, including the massage parlours, opened again on 2 July. If you have read my previous blogs about my Thai friends in Bahrain you will know that due to COV 19 the Bahrain Government decided to close the Massage parlours in March 2020. 

So for the last 16 months these poor guys have had no money but were unable to leave the country. You can imagine how excited they were when they read the news above. 

If you did not already read the moving story about how they survived in that 16 month period click any of the links below:

Bom's story

Oak's story

Phum's story

                                                  Oak tastes his Tom Yum soup

I had already booked Phum to show me how to cook Tom Yum Seafood Soup on 6th July but as he had to work and as Oak could not work, Oak agreed to cook for me. I found this recipe on the internet and sent it to Miss Andrea to print and then I went and bought the food ready for him to cook. 

I already have one recipient for the soup as Miss A commented:

"mmm- yummuy Tom Yum – a massive favourite of mine, when made fresh by someone who knows how.

Very jealous of your visit to Thailand – I spent three months living on a beach there when I was 23 – one of the most memorable experiences of my life and the flavours of the food – unforgettable!"

Miss A was also jealous of my planned trip to Phuket in September . However bad news on that front, I was reading the small print on the Phuket Sandbox rules, luckily, and found out that they will not accept people with the Sputnik vaccine! So I am not now going to Thailand! Trying to leave Bahrain is a real roller coaster ride of alternating joy and sadness. I have decided to spend two months in Dubai and one month in Doha instead. Now Wanchai is upset as I was going to fly him to Phuket for his birthday treat. Never mind, I know we will meet again one day and celebrate then!

 

So, enough stories, back to the soup -first the useful statistics:

• Level: Intermediate

• Total: 20 min

• Yield: 4 servings

Now the Ingredients:

1 chunk galangal

1 stalk lemongrass 

1 tomato, plus more for garnish 

Handful fresh cilantro ( coriander) leaves, plus more for garnish 

4 scallops

4 shrimp, peeled 

3 pieces squid 

2 fillets red snapper

2 mussels 

10 kaffir lime leaves 

10 straw mushrooms 

6 to 10 red or green Thai chilis 

3 tablespoons fish sauce 

2 tablespoons lime juice 

1 tablespoon prik pao (Thai chili paste with soybean oil)

1 teaspoon sugar 

                     

                           Oak prepares the Lemongrass

 Now the Method

1.    Bring about 2 liters of water to a boil in a medium saucepan.

2.    Pour another 2 liters of water into a separate pot and bring to a boil (for flash steaming the seafood).

3.    While waiting for the water to boil, chop up the galangal, lemongrass, tomato, cilantro, scallops, shrimp, squid, snapper and mussels.

                        Preparing the Thai red Chili

4.    Once the water in the first pot comes to boil, add the lime leaves, mushrooms, chilis, galangal and lemongrass and stir. Immediately after, add the fish sauce, lime juice, prik pao and sugar. Let the broth simmer.

5.    Flash-steam the seafood in the other pot for approximately 1 minute. Add the seafood to the main pot, stir and boil for about 5 minutes.

Stirring in the seafood ( we used a bag of frozen mixed seafood)

6.    Ladle the soup into bowls and top with some tomato and cilantro.

             Oak looks very happy with his Tom Yum Seafood Soup

Just a quick legal note from the author of the recipe:

This recipe was provided by a chef, restaurant or culinary professional. It has not been tested for home use.

The Recipe was courtesy of Jitlada- many thanks wherever you are

 Source: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tom-yum-seafood-soup-4537237  ( accessed 30.6.2021)

Finally , special thanks to Oak for being my Thai chef and instructor three times now! He is a very talented guy- Tiffany show, Thai Massage and Chef!

I congratulate all my Thai Masseur friends ( Oh, Bhumi, Oak, Bell,  Adam , Kiti Ki , Wanchai and Rew) for surviving through COV 19 and wish them every success for the future

Until my next TBK cooks blog I will just say