Tom Yum Talay Soup

I wanted to make a truly Thai dish for my friend Net who was in town. Net had sent me some wonderful spice mixes from Thailand, so it was my gift back to him to make this soup. Tom Yum Talay soup has a clear broth with a little kick. A lot of people think the main thai soup is with coconut milk, but that's Tom Kha soup, and is actually not as common in Thailand.

Tom Yum soup makes me feel great and warm inside on any cold winter day. I added some fish called Wahoo...not Yahoooooo...but wahoo, :) and also some shrimp. Mmmm, MMMm...Yum, :)

Ingredients

1 package Tom Yum Curry paste (Lobo brand is the best from Thailand, if you can find this)

1 teaspoon garlic

ginger root, a few slices (don't be intimidated of how to get through the hard brown shell to get to the inside. Think of it like a carrot, and simply use a peeler and bingo, you're to the beautiful yellow center)

2 cups water

1 lb. wahoo fish (or any white salt water fish)

Shrimp (if you'd like)

1 cup, julienned fennel bulb (the top leafy part you can save in a zip loc bag) for some other recipe, like soup

1 cup mushrooms

1/2 cup green onions

lemon juice to taste

3 tbsp oil (peanut or vegetable)

salt and sugar to taste

Recipe

On medium heat in pan, fry the fish in oil until a little brown (this is good to do first, for fish that's been frozen for a while, this will help you stay away from any fishy taste. Otherwise, you can just put fresh fish in the soup near the end of the recipe). Put fish aside.

Add garlic to pan, and mix with the paste, and it will become a beautiful yellow color

Add water, let it boil

Put in fennel and mushrooms

Put salt and sugar to taste

Add in fish and shrimp

Boil another 2 minutes to completely cook the fish

Serve, and add lemon juice to taste, and Garnish with the green onions on top