"Tom Yum Goong" is the phonetic translation of "tom yum", which is a soup of lemon leaves, chili peppers, lemongrass and meat, and "goong" means shrimp, so "tom yum goong" in Thai means hot and sour shrimp soup. The word "tom yum kung soup" in Thai means hot and sour shrimp soup.

The tom yum goong soup seems to be only sour and spicy two flavors, fine taste, but it seems to have a hundred flavors, thanks to the complexity of the spices. The main ingredients are prawns and straw mushrooms, seasonings include lemongrass, lemon leaves, coriander leaves, red chili, and sauces include fish sauce and lime juice. One of the main ingredients is Thai lemon, a flavored fruit unique to Southeast Asia.

The other seasoning is fish sauce, a typical southern Thai seasoning, which is actually a condiment like soy sauce. The source of the spiciness in the soup is the Thai artichoke pepper, which is said to be the hottest pepper in the world. Other seasonings include curry paste, lemongrass, shrimp paste, and fish sauce, ranging from mild to extremely spicy, and such complexity creates its layers of flavors that it's hard to taste its essence in a single bite?

Expanded Information:

The Thais believe that Tom Yum Goong soup, which is made from carefully selected ingredients, has a very good effect on health, and there have been studies that show that those who drink Tom Yum Goong soup often are much less likely to develop cancer than those who don't drink it.

For the origin of the tom yum kung soup, folk has such a beautiful legend, 18th century Thailand Tunburi dynasty period, the Chinese Zheng Xin Wang was in power, Miao Luck Princess is sick, do not want to eat anything, Zheng Xin Wang called the royal chef to the princess to do some appetizing soup. Unexpectedly, the princess drank this bowl of soup, the body is comfortable, the disease is reduced. The King of Zheng Xin named it Dunyin Gong soup, and designated as "national soup".

Baidu Encyclopedia - Tom Yum Goong