Dish of the Week: Tom yum soup
This recent up and down weather has left a number of people we know nursing colds, myself included. Aside from downing various over-the-counter medications, I decided to turn to a little bit of homeopathy. Chicken soup has been shown to slow the movement of neutrophils (specialized white blood cells) toward the respiratory system, lessening your body’s fast train to mucus hell. Some swear by onions, garlic, and ginger to help with their woes. There was also a rumor circulating in Korea that kimchee would help people fight bird flu.
Personally, I swear by tom yum – a hot and sour soup that can be found in a number of Thai restaurants. It usually is lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, fish sauce, lime juice, and chili peppers crushed into a paste and put in boiling water to which chicken, shrimp or mushrooms are added. That by itself is sinus clearing, but could use some more immune boosting power. So I concocted a fortified version of tom yum soup with the addition of canned chicken noodle. It adds extra depth to the soup, and and I like to picture it being full of tiny cell guys kicking the butts of the green mucus characters from the Mucinex commercials.
1/2 onion, chopped or minced
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 can of chicken noodle (I prefer Progresso’s low sodium)
3 slices of ginger
1 tbsp. tom yum soup paste (found at Asian grocery store or online)
juice of 1/2 lime
Heat up some oil in a saucepan and add the onions and garlic. Saute onions until transparent. Add the can of chicken soup and slices of ginger until simmering. Mix in the tom yum soup paste until dissolved. Finish with lime juice to taste. An optional add-in before the chicken soup is kimchee and some of the juice. Or go more freestyle and throw in other tasty bits like cilantro, spring onions, and mushrooms.
And if you’re knocked out and this seems like too much work, you can just get some tom yum soup delivered from your favorite local Thai place.
Image courtesy of avlxyz used under a creative commons license
