Chinese cuisine is one of the most consumed cuisines out there, and it’s safe to say that this cuisine is loaded with soups and stews. In addition, the Chinese hot pot has various soups, including Tom yum vs. Tom Kha soup. So, if you are confused between these soup items, we are sharing everything you need to differentiate between these two Asian soups!
Tom Yum vs Tom Kha Soup
Tom Yum Soup
The tom yum soup is also known as tom yam, and it’s the perfect option for people who are fond of hot and sour soup. This soup has gained a special place in Chinese cuisine, and it’s popular for its fragrant and sour flavors. For the most part, tom yum soup is loaded with shrimp, but there are different varieties of this soup, leading to different ingredients. For instance, some tom yum soup recipes use pork in place of shrimp.
To illustrate, tom yum soup is a boiled broth that has three significant flavors, including sour, spicy, and sweet. As far as the flavoring is concerned, tom yum soup is rich in chili pepper, fish sauce, lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, and lime juice, which leads to a unique flavor. While it’s a common part of Chinese cuisine, it has gained a place in Thai cuisine and actually originated from Thailand. In addition to home-cooked tom yum soup, there are some commercial versions.
For the most part, there is commercial tom yum paste available that’s made by crushing the herb-based ingredients, which are stir-fried in oil. In addition, this paste has various seasonings to add flavor, which is then used as a base to make soup – the users can add pork, chicken, or shrimp to make soup and add water. In particular, this paste is known as nam prik pao, which results in the spicy and sour flavor of the soup.
When it comes down to the base, it is made with garlic, shallots, and roasted chilies as meat and other herbs are added later. In addition, mushrooms, sweet white onions, sugar, and cilantro are also added to enhance the flavor of tom yum soup. As already mentioned, there are different varieties of tom yum soup, and one of them is made with evaporated milk or coconut milk. As far as availability is concerned, tom yum soup is commonly served in Malaysian, Chinese, and Thai restaurants.
Tom Kha Soup
Tom Kha soup is quite similar to tom yum soup, and if you have them for the first time, it will be hard to tell the difference. However, the differentiating ingredient is coconut milk. Unlike other Asian soup recipes, the base or broth of tom Kha soup is made with coconut milk. It is safe to say that Tom Kha soup is incomplete without coconut milk, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be spicy and hot. However, it will have a creamy and rich texture.
On top of everything, Tom Kha soup boasts its unique flavor with the addition of galangal, and it’s just another ingredient that makes an authentic tom Kha soup. Tom Kha is also known as Thai coconut soup, and it’s another spicy and hot soup. In addition to coconut milk and galangal, tom Kha soup also has kaffir lime leaves, dill or coriander, lemongrass, straw mushrooms, fish sauce, Thai chili, lime juice, and chicken. However, some people also add ginger in place of galangal.
In the majority of cases, Tom Kha soup is also enhanced with fried chili, which tends to make the flavor spicier. There are different varieties of tom Kha soup out there, such as tom kha kai that’s made with seafood, and Lao-style soup that’s made with dill weed. In the 19th century, it was not considered soup and was considered a simple meal made by simmering duck or chicken in coconut broth with galangal as the main flavoring ingredient.
The best thing about Tom Kha soup is that it can be personalized with your desired meat, such as pork, beef, tofu, shrimp, and chicken. Depending on the ingredients, tom kha soup is likely to have over 350 calories, so it’s obvious that you have to run a mile or two, but it’s totally worth having a bowl.