TomYam Kung (Hot and Sour Soup) and Brand Loyalty

I remember eating the original Thai Tom Yam at a small town across Kedah-Thailand border years ago which was simply bewitching. During the days when I was working, I used to go to Trengganu as I was in charge of the accounts in that State.I also remember the tom yam served at a restaurant in Trengganu as simply delightful.Nowadays I normally do not order tom yam when I eat out, but the tom yam with rice vermicelli I ate a week ago at a stall within a Mamak shop was just right. Normally, stall tom yams are down right too watery. There are no vegetables except a piece of tomato and onion, plus one small shrimp and a piece of cut squid. Very disappointing that some people think that is what a Tom Yam should be when they prepare it at home using only the tom yam cube stocks.

Tonight I decided to prepare tom yam soup with rice vermicelli.I had bought a bottle of Tom Yam paste earlier. I was trying a local Malaysian brand as I have never bought this brand of paste before. I was using another brand of vermicelli as well. I got the vermicelli free after complaining that the lokam I had bought earlier at a hypermarket were bad.Both products turn out unsatisfactory as far as I was concerned.

First the vermicelli was too soft when I scalded in hot water.

Next the tom yam paste was too thin too, unlike the normal Thai brand I normally used which is very concentrated. I had to do some damage control when the soup did not come out as expected by adding more lime juice, galangal, lemon grass, chilli paste, Thai fish sauce (Nam Pla) and of course kaffir lime leaves. Luckily I had them in the fridge and in the back garden. Fortunately too, there were no complaints when the family sat down to dinner.

From now onwards I will stick to the normal brands of Tom Yam sauce and rice vermicelli. No more trying out other cheaper brands.

Talking about brands, I have been getting complaints that my fried vermicelli does not taste as usual. This was because I had switched to a cheaper brand of soya sauce when the price of the popular brand which we normally use, sky rocketed.

Sometimes brand loyalty does not pay when the producers hold us to ransom by increasing their prices exorbitantly. On the other hand, our taste buds could also be controlling what we put in our mouths. The dilemma continues.....

For those wanting to prepare their own Tom Yam Kung for 5 people, if you cannot find the bottled Tom Yam paste in your neighbourhood, here is how:

Ingredients:

Roughly 5 shell-on shrimp per person, shelled and deveined, 3 squids, cleaned and cut into 1 cm rings, 1/4 chicken cut into smaller pieces

• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 4 stalks lemon grass, squashed
• 2 tabsp chilli paste, or more to taste
  

• 8 kaffir lime leaves
• 5 green chillies, chopped, or more, to taste
• 1 tsp bird chili peppers, or more, to taste
• 1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 16 cups (1 gallon, 4 litres) strong shrimp stock
• prepared by boiling the shrimp heads and shells and blending them in a blender and filtering the stock.
• 1/2 cup lime juice, use more if you prefer a more sourish taste
• 1 lb mushrooms, Button, Oyster, Enoki or Shitake, whichever you prefer or a mix of them all, quartered
• 1 carrot cubed
• 2 tomatoes, quartered
• 2 sprigs cauliflower cut into bite sizes
• half bunch spring onions, cut into 1 inch lengths
• 1 bunch cilantro, and Chinese celery, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons nam pla (fish sauce)

Heat oil in deep saucepan, and when hot, add lemon grass, lime leaves, green chillies, chilli paste, onion, and garlic. Fry until onion is browned (about 10 minutes). Add half the shrimp stock and fish sauce.Bring to boil, then simmer one hour. Steep 24 hours (if you don't, the flavours won't be quite so rich).

Strain, discarding solids. Add remaining shrimp stock, or cube stock and bring to a boil. Add chicken, shrimp, squids, mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower and bird chillies. Cook 2 minutes longer, then remove from heat. Add tomatoes, cilantro, spring onions and Chinese celery. Serve immediately with scalded rice vermicelli or boiled white rice.