I was searching around online for a good Pho soup base, and found some that had a good rating. The company also makes a Tom Yum soup base, so I nabbed a jar of that while I was at it. Last night was a bit chilly, so I thought it would be a nice evening to try it! You use 1 teaspoon of base mix per cup of water.
Tom Yum soup is an amazing combination of salty, spicy, sweet, and sour flavors, and James and I almost always get it when we go out for Thai food. Our favorite place usually includes mushrooms, tomatoes, thinly sliced chicken, and onion.
I wanted to add some ginger flavor to the mix as well, so I sliced a bit up and used a tea strainer so I didn't have to fish ginger chunks out of the soup later.
Sauteed up some mushrooms in butter, then did the same with some onions and a few huge tomatoes from our garden.
I added everything into the pot, got it good and simmering, then put in some small chunks of white fish I had kicking around in the freezer.
Brought the soup up to a boil, stirring it with my ginger strainer ball, then served it with some basil and green onions on top.
I have to say, for being just a soup base mix, it was DANG good. James said he couldn't tell the different between it and what we get at the restaurant. I'm excited to try their Pho soup mix now too! Nice to have a shortcut, since we don't have any good Asian markets nearby that carry things like ox tail, galangal and kaffir lime leaves.