Thai Hot and Sour Prawn Soup

Tom yum koong is the Thai name of this wonderfully lemon-sour and chilli-hot soup, which combines the characteristic balance of sweet, sour, salty, bitter and hot that features in so much Thai food. Part of its intriguing flavour comes from Thai fish sauce, called nam pia, which is made with fermented salted anchovies.

Traditionally, this soup is made with large, uncooked, deep-water prawns, but the smaller Mediterranean prawns will do. I’ve also made tom yum with chunks of white fi