Tom yam gai -- request for recipe

[Peripatetic Phil]

Rohan, the chef at my wife's hotel in Bodmin, produces a first-class Tom yam gai  which I have been unable to replicate at home, although I can get close.  I am still waiting for my wife to extract the full details of the recipe from him, but in the meantime I wondered if any of our regulars (particularly those now living and working in Thailand) might have some suggestions.  I have available to me Mae Ploy Tom Yum paste, Mae Sri Pad Kapao (chilli paster with basil leaves), Chiu Chow Chilli Oil, fresh galangal, fresh lemon grass, fresh Thai basil (both the holy and the sweet varieties), fish sauce, lime juice, ... but I still can't quite get there.

** Phil.

P.S.  The Thai pastes and fresh herbs were sourced from Thai Food Online -- highly recommended.

[fried]

Maybe you're overcomplicating with the dish with all the pastes. Every recipe I've used uses stock, lemon grass, galangal, lime leaves, lime juice, fish sauce and lots of chilli.

You can add optional extras such as tamarind, tomato, corriander, straw mushrooms. One recipe I have uses a little chilli jam.

I've never made one as good as one I had in Thailand, blisteringly hot, with pork hocks. I think it was the stock that did it.

[Les]

Try here Phil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybAw3oeSDNk

[Peripatetic Phil]

Thank you both (and any that follow).  Fried is certainly correct that I may be overcomplicating things -- each day I have simplified (and reduced the number and size of ingredients) and yesterday's was the best yet (Tom yam paste, two basil leaves (shredded, added late), lemon grass, galangal and ginger (all sliced thinly across the grain), but I still found I left some.  I think I may back off from Mae Ploy's recommended 50gm/600 ml to (maybe) 30gm/600ml and see if that is a further improvement.  Now about to watch Le's recommended video.  Thanks again !

** Phil.

[Les]

Your welcome Phil, hope it helps.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Well, apart from the fact that the American/Canadian practice of dropping the leading "h" in "herbs" drives me completely insane (!), that was well worth watching, Les.  Now off to defrost some drumsticks for this evening's version, and I need to check whether I have fresh Kaffir lime leaves -- I certainly have dried, but would prefer fresh if I have any lurking in the chiller ...

** Phil.

[edit] Yes, I have
P018 

[Les]

Don't forget the tamarind Phil.
And good luck

[Peripatetic Phil]

Don't forget the tamarind Phil. And good luck

Thank you Les.  In fact, I have the tamarind (a staple in my chiller drawer) but on looking at the Hot Thai Kitchen web site for the full recipe/ingredients list, I see that the copy editor appears to have been temporarily distracted while working on it -- there are at least two ingredients duplicated (my asterisks) --

    4 cups chicken stock
    350 g chicken thigh, 1-inch pieces
    3 Tbsp fish sauce
    2 heads shallots *** 1 ***
    3-4 dried chilies (or substitute fresh chilies) *** 1 ***
    2 stalks lemongrass, bottom half only, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
    5-6 rounds galangal
    5-6 kaffir lime leaves, torn
    2 heads shallots, cut in half vertically *** 2 ***
    3-4 dried chilies *** 2 ***
    2 Tbsp tamarind juice
    200 grams oyster, straw or beech mushrooms
    1 cup cherry tomatoes, halves, or regular tomatoes, cut into wedges
    2-3 Tbsp lime juice (how much you need depends on the acidity of your tamarind)
   

[fried]

I've never had a Tom yum with basil in it in Thailand or elsewhere. I don't like tomato in it either, I find most restaurants in the west serrve up a tomato soup. It really needs a tbsp or more of thai chillis  for it to be authentic.

Les' video looks fine except about right, except too many tomatoes for me, and not enough chilli. Looks like American Thai to me.

Actually, I think it was Les who gave me the book with the recipe I usually use; Thai street food by David Thompson, excellent and very simple.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I've never had a Tom yum with basil in it in Thailand or elsewhere. I don't like tomato in it either, I find most restaurants in the west serrve up a tomato soup. It really needs a tbsp or more of thai chillis  for it to be authentic.

Yes, Rohan at the Westberry also puts tomato in his version, which I invariably pull out.  And it may well have been Kaffir lime leaves that I used last night, not holy basil -- I was writing from memory, and may have got the two confused.

Les' video looks fine except about right, except too many tomatoes for me, and not enough chilli.

Just about to set off to the kitchen to make it (with far fewer tomatoes, of course).

Looks like American Thai to me.

Well, the lady is clearly an expatriate Thai living in America (whence her 'erbs, tameitas and cilantro), but the recipe looks pretty good to me, so I am about to give it a go.

** Phil.

[edit]Didn't work for me.  Made 100% to spec., modulo the dried chillies for which I had to substitute fresh Thai chillies as I forgot to buy dried when I was in Waitrose.  But the end result was uninteresting, and I had to add Tom Yam paste to make it even mildly interesting.  There is a lot left (since I made the full 4 cupsful / 350gm), I've eaten the drumsticks with chilli-soya, and tomorrow I will try the left-over stock with some fresh chicken breast (which is what is served in the hotel) to see if it tastes any better on the second day.  And in the meantime I plan to send the recipe to Am, a former restaurateur and Thai chef who works part-time at the hotel, to see what her comments are on it.[/edit]