Easy Way TO Learning Thai Recipes

Since I became Thai food fan,  I made up mind to step into the kitchen by my self and try to cook  Pad Thai Recipe, because I do love this one recipe and tried my hand to this dish. I experience that my estimated layout for making that particular recipe was not up to the mark. So finally I thought to get a good guideline from any expertise recipe book because learning to cook curry was not much easy as a beginner would expect. I already bought all the ingredients and raw food but failed to make a good paste to fry my all favorite dishes. Finally, one of my office colleague suggested me a good magazine outlet in market, to target to buy a good recipe book to make my food much better delicious and healthy. Because I heard that Thai food does not carry much calories and people finding it as a fast food to make their lazy dinner as much spicy.Finally I got a nice book named Marion recipe because of which I got an idea to prepare proper paste for curry which made my recipe much tastier then before. This cookbook made me believe in my self that I can also cook Thai recipes. Since then I have chosencooking as my hobby and all my friends and colleague appreciate and love what I cooked.

Vegetarian Tom Yum Soup
Ingredients:

    5-6 cups good-tasting vegetable or faux chicken stock (makes 4 servings)
    1-2 stalks lemongrass , minced (see link below), OR 3-4 Tbsp. frozen prepared lemongrass (available at Asian stores)
    3 whole kaffir lime leaves (available fresh or frozen at Asian food stores)
    1-2 cups soft tofu, sliced into cubes
    1-2 red chilies, sliced, OR 1/2 tsp. dried crushed chili, OR 1-2 tsp. chili sauce
    4 cloves garlic, minced
    1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, sliced into thin matchstick-like pieces
    1 cup fresh mushrooms (I used shiitake), sliced
    2 cups baby bok choy, leaves separated or chopped if large, OR substitute broccoli or bell pepper
    1 cup cherry tomatoes
    1/2 can good-quality coconut milk
    1 tsp. brown sugar
    3-4 Tbsp. soy sauce (use wheat-free for gluten-free diets)
    1 Tbsp. fresh-squeezed lime juice
    1/2 cup fresh basil + 1/3 cup fresh coriander/cilantro, roughly chopped

Preparation:

    Pour stock into a soup pot. If making the stock from cubes or powder, but sure to make it strong (if it tastes good on its own, it will make for a better Tom yum soup!). Now add the prepared lemongrass, plus the lime leaves, chili, garlic, and galangal or ginger. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, or until broth is very fragrant.
    Add the mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5-8 minutes, or until mushrooms are soft.
    Add the bok choy and cherry tomatoes. Gently simmer 1-2 more minutes (bok choy should remain on the crisp side).
    Reduce heat to low and add the coconut milk, sugar, soy sauce, and lime juice. Finally, add the soft tofu and gently stir.
    Do a taste-test, adding more chili or chili sauce if not spicy enough. If not salty enough, add more soy sauce or a little more stock cube/powder or salt. Add 1 more tsp. sugar if too sour. If too salty or sweet, add another squeeze of lime juice.
    To serve, ladle soup into bowls with fresh basil and coriander sprinkled over. Enjoy!

Note: Although I prefer my Tom Yum with coconut milk, more traditional versions of the soup don't include it (instead, they increase the amount of stock). In Thailand, they often use Carnation Evaporated Milk, which is a good option for vegetarians, while vegans will prefer to use coconut milk.