Easy Meal - Tom Yum Soup

I love Thai food, and I love this soup.  The Asian grocery store sells the Tom Yum broth in a can, seasoned with lemongrass and all of the yummy spices.  This is a super easy, semi-homemade meal to quickly whip up at home.

* This recipe serves one.

Ingredients

• 1 can Tom Yum broth
• 1 can Straw mushrooms
• 1 bunch cilantro (rough chop)
• Green onions (diced)
• 6 raw shrimp

There are a variety of brands for the Tom Yum broth; this one was not my favorite, it was a little greasy.  
My favorite Asian brand is AROY-D.   

There are a variety of brands of Straw Mushrooms; this one was not my favorite, 
the mushrooms were a little big and needed to be cut in half.

Directions

1. Dump the broth into a pan and turn the heat on high.  
2. Drain the mushrooms and add them to the broth.
3. When the broth starts to boil, turn it down to medium and add the shrimp.  The shrimp will cook in about 2-3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, add to bowl and top with cilantro and green onions.
5. Enjoy!

Notes

• Historically, I have used whole shrimp but this time I decided to cut it up into bite size pieces before adding it to the broth to make it easier to eat.  While the whole shrimp make for a nicer presentation, cutting it up is way more functional.  It can be hard to use chop sticks and try to take bites of the shrimp without having broth drip down your chin.   Messy, messy.
• Ethic grocery stores have popped up all over and the grocery stores have grown their ethnic food sections so you should be able to find the Tom Yum broth.  Seriously, seek out the Asian store in your area and have fun with it.  In Minneapolis, we are lucky to have a variety of them and every time I go, I buy something new that I am not familiar with.  It is really fun to try new things this way and experiment.   
• I love this soup if I feel a cold coming on.  It has just the right amount of heat that will completely clear out your sinuses.   Grab a Kleenex, you'll need it. 

Sides:  I like having just the soup for lunch, but if you want to make a bigger meal out of it you could add spring rolls as a nice side or have the soup as a starter for multiple other courses.    

Pairings:  I prefer just a tall glass of ice water with this soup (especially since I usually make it for lunch in the winter - not that I'm opposed to a wine lunch but....).  The soup would certainly go well with a cold beer or a semi-sweet, off dry Reisling.   Keep in mind, you will need a glass of water either way because this soup has a kick!

Cheers!