This week I had to do a product shooting for S who had a project of Thai food presented in a modern way. Now, Thai food has a long history, not much had changed over the years and certainly not presentation. (We are very lucky for that) However since Thai food has become so much popular around the world a few individuals have tried to fuse Thai cuisine with other cuisines like French, Italian, Spanish and even Japanese. More often these fusions are a complete failure since all these cuisines have their distinctive flavors and methods of cooking. Perhaps the only way to fuse other cuisines with Thai I can think of is in the presentation; Thai served like Tapas or small individual courses, Keiseki style.

Tom yum is characterized by its distinct hot and sour flavors, with fragrant herbs generously used. The basic broth is made of stock and fresh ingredients such as lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce and crushed chili peppers.

In Thailand, tom yum is usually made with prawns (tom yum goong), chicken (tom yum gai), fish (tom yum pla), or mixed seafood (tom yum talay or tom yum po taek) and mushrooms – usually straw or oyster mushrooms. The soup is often topped with generous sprinkling of fresh chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves. In Laos, tom yum is typically made with fish or chicken, but freshwater prawns are also available.