Tom Yam Kung
facts & tidbits

---

How did you come
upon the recipe?
On a pole stuck into the ground in front of a farmhouse that I visited in Thailand was a miniature dwelling no larger than a rural mailbox. It looked like Walt Disney's version of a Siamese dollhouse, extravagantly decorated and floridly painted.

Standing next to this architectural spectacle was my hostess, a woman of classical Thai features: large and bright eyes, long black hair, golden brown skin. She was clad in a colorful, ankle-length silk dress called a panyung, which was tightly wrapped around her hips. Like most of the Thais I met, she had a calm and cheerful personality.

"You're looking at a spirit house," she informed me. "Nearly everyone constructs one of them near the entrance to their home to appease the land spirits. We periodically leave offerings in them, including small bouquets of flowers and steamed rice rolled in banana leaves."

"We don't feed our guests in our spirit houses." She laughed. "Besides, you're too big; so we'll eat inside my home." She served me and her family a variety of dishes plus rice, the starch staple of Thailand. All of us ate in the traditional Thai manner: with our fingers. A spoon, however, was provided for the Tom Yam Kung , the leading soup of' Thailand. This spicy shrimp soup gains its unique flavor from the stalk of the lemon grass plant and the leaves of the makrut lime tree.

---

Click

Tom Yam Kung - RECIPE

Tom Yam Kung - COOKING TIPS

for more helpful info

Menu for 13 famous peasant  recipes

Learn how to be peasant cuisine savvy

Candid guide to 26 world cuisines

---

---

Explore my
candid country, region
and other travel guides
Click links for tips & insights

©2012 HQP - Hillman Quality Publications / hillmanwonders.com