Reserve the shells
Peel the shrimp if desired, leaving tails on. Reserve heads and shells and keep the shrimp cold.
Recipes › Tom Yum Goong
Tom Yum Goong
A hot-sour Thai broth with lemongrass, galangal and makrut lime — deeply prawn-flavored, but with the shrimp themselves poached for only about ninety seconds.
Jump to RecipeAI-generated serving illustration. It is not a photograph of a tested batch or a doneness reference.
The Recipe
Ingredients
Step-by-Step Instructions
Build prawn-rich stock
Toast heads and shells in a dry pot until orange. Crush lightly, add stock with half the lemongrass and galangal, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Strain.
Infuse the broth
Return stock to the pot. Add remaining lemongrass, galangal, half the lime leaves, shallots and chiles. Simmer gently 5 minutes.
Cook the mushrooms
Add mushrooms and simmer 2 minutes.
Poach shrimp briefly
Add the shrimp and poach about 90 seconds to 2 minutes depending on size, just until opaque. Turn off the heat.
Season off the boil
Stir in fish sauce, nam prik pao and palm sugar. Add evaporated milk if using.
Add acid last
Add lime juice and remaining torn lime leaves off heat. Taste until the broth reads hot, sour and salty in balance. Finish with herbs and serve immediately.
OPTIONAL UPGRADE
Flavor Bomb
Keep the core recipe clean, or flip this on for one or two high-impact upgrades.
How to know it's done
Use these recipe-specific texture cues. Color and curl alone cannot establish safety; use a thermometer to check 145°F / 63°C at the thickest part for cooked shrimp.
ShrimpSense Notes
The little details that make a big difference.
The broth gets the long cook
Heads, shells and aromatics can simmer. The shrimp meat cannot.
Lime goes in off heat
Boiling lime juice dulls the fresh aroma and can push bitterness.
Heads are a flavor asset
Head fat gives Tom Yum Goong its orange sheen and deep prawn character.
Large shrimp stay distinct
Big shrimp remain plump in the hot broth and are easier to time.