Country > Philippines > Bohol > Tagbilaran
Date > 2024 > September
Activity > Food Recipes

Series: Thai Food

Thai Food

Pad
Thai

Tom Yum
Soup

September 6, 2024

Tom Yum Soup

Location : Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines

Thailand Street Food
I miss Thailand and I miss Tom Yum Soup. Tom Yum spans a broad spectrum in Thailand. It's available across the country (unlike Khao Soi which can only be found in Northern Thailand), and can be had cheaply as street food (for about Baht 50 or PHP 75 or US$1.50) or be ordered in fine dining restaurants. I've enjoyed Tom Yum Soup in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Nong Khai. They all taste just about the same, but Nong Khai Tom Yum has more shrimp since they get a lot of that along the Mekong River.

Tom Yum Soup 101
Tom Yum has been evolving, even in Thailand. From the research I just did, there seem to be 4 variations: Tom Yum Gai (chicken), Tom Yum Goong (shrimp), and from those 2 you can make it the standard clear broth (nam sai) or add cream and add the words "nam kon" e.g. shrimp Tom Yum with cream is Tom Yum Goong Nan Kon.

To make Tom Yum, the 3 must-have ingredients are kafir lime leaves, galangal and lemon grass.

Philippine Tom Yum
Tom Yum is not cheap in the Philippines. You can find them in Thai restaurants for about PHP 350/serving. In every city, there is usually a Thai restaurant, but getting authentic Tom Yum is a different matter.

DIY Tom Yum Soup
In Bohol, Philippines, it's challenging to make this soup from scratch since not all ingredients are locally available - kafir lime leaves ('biasong' in local parlance) are rare and galangal is non-existent. Luckily, pre-packaged Thai sauces, pastes, coconut cream and noodles are available at ICM Mall in Tagbilaran. The brand is Real THAI. They are even sold as 'buy 1, take 1' sometimes. This is the first time I'll be cooking Thai cuisine. Crossing my fingers.

Real-THAI recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups water
50g (4 tbsp?) Real THAI Tom Yum paste
optional: 1/4 coconut cream (nam kon)
15g galangal
30g lemon grass
50g mushroom
1cup shrimp
1/2 tbsp fish sauce (patis)
1/2 tbsp lime juice
2-3 kafir lime leaves (biasong)
coriander leaves

Preparation:

boil water then add Tom Yum paste, add galangal, lemon grass and mushroom. When back to boiling, add shrimp and turn off as soon as it boils again (shrimp can easily overcook)
optional: remove lemon grass and galangal since they won't be eaten. Some leave it there as garnishing
add lime juice (not when water is still boiling with cream, otherwise it will curdle)
before serving, add kafir lime leaves and coriander leaves

Tom Yum Gai with leftover lechon chicken, button mushroom, rice noodles, pizza sauce, carrots/shallots, coconut cream and Real THAI Tom Yum paste

Tom Yum Gai

Guerilla Tom Yum Soup
In my case, since I wantd to use up all my leftovers, I added lechon chicken, julliened carrots and rice noodles (no lemongrass, no kafir lime leaves). But despite the winging, I have to say the dish came out so good and so satisfying.

Ending Thoughts
The Real THAI product mix makes preparing authentic Thai food, painless and accessible. It's great that my local supermarket carries most of them - rice stick, sauces, and dips. I can whip up a dish in just minutes with minimal preparation - and the taste is authentic (because Real THAI is imported from Thailand).

The Real THAI Tom Yum is actually very versatile. When I make my egg omelet, instead of sauteeing garlic and onions, I mix a table spoon into the whisked egg and the whole omelet comes out very flavourful. Or maybe, I make my Filipino mongo soup and I use that paste for flavoring. It just comes in handy.

Having done this, I'm now excited at the many Thai cuisines I'm about to embark on. Life is food and food is life...they go hand in hand.

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

Chicken Tom Yum (no cream)

Chicken Tom Yum

Shrimp Tom Yum

November Snapshots: Garbage

(March 1-31, 2024) After being in Ormoc and Cebu, it's good to go back home to Tagbilaran despite the garbage episodes, the ruined good roads and the slow cashiers. Oh well, I should really just leave the place if I can't stand it....more »»

Next Food Recipes story:

Pad Thai

(September 26, 2024) After my Tom Yum Soup, next Thai food is equally famous on the global stage - Pad Thai, again, using Real-Thai pad-thai paste. Looking at the ingredients, they can all be locally obtained. Next time, I'll do it the DIY way. For a change, I'm using shrimps....more »»

Bohol, Philippines

tourist attractions

Danao Adventure Park - zip lining, cable car ride, caving, river rides/trekking, off-road buggy ride, root climbing, rappelling and ultra-glide rides
Alona Beach - hub for tourists with hotels, resorts, restos, bars and dive shops
Chocolate Hills - hills side-by-side shaped like giant Kisses chocolate
Tarsier - pocket-sized marsupia looking like a monkey
Balicasag Island - one of the best dive spots in the Philippines
Loboc River - river cruise on a boat
Anda Beach - fine white sand beach with resorts, restos and cottages, 3 hours by bus from Tagbilaran
Cabagnow Cave Pool - brackish water pool about 5ft deep inside a limestone opening on the ground, 8 feet deep, P50
Lamanok Island - walk on a 100m bamboo bridge on stilts to a resto area to take a boat tour to caves and nearly attractions, P300
Combento Cave Pool - cave pool with underwater cave system, P20
Can-umantad Falls - long narrow drop until it hits a bulbous mound spreading it into a a curtain-like water canopy and down into a splash pool
Canawa Cold Spring - deep refreshing cold spring with developed pool area
Firefly Tour - evening boat ride into the river to watch fireflies

hotel

Fox & The Firefly Cottages - SUP paddle boarding, luxury riverside native cottages, mountain bike tours, SUP yoga
Baranggay Valladolid, Loboc, Bohol
Bohol Tropics Resort - seafront location, manicured surroundings, swimming pool, resto/bar
0133 Graham Avenue, Brgy. Cogon, Tagbilaran, Bohol 6300
Oasis Resort - Alona Beach location, dive center, resto / bar
Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol

yoga

Jing Yoga - health & well being through yoga
The Courtyard - Airport Road fronting the church
Bohol Meditation and Yoga Center - 2nd Floor Lim Magtajas Bldg. CPG Avenue

Bohol Travel Info/Tips

Bohol FYI / Tips

the tourist area where most of the hotels, restaurants, ticket offices, tour operators are, is located within the Alona Beach area
the tourist attractions in Bohol are far apart and spread-out. It would be difficult to visit them all using public mass transit. Better hire a van (P3500/day) if in a big group, or rent a motorcycle (P400/day + gas)
Bohol relies on its tourism for revenue. As expected, everything they can capitalize on from tourism is extensively used and developed

Tagbilaran Port to Panglao

You can charter any tricycle from the port all the way to Panglao (~P300), but if you want to do it on the cheap,

don't take the tricycles lined-up inside the port. Walk past the port gate and immediately outside, you'll see many tricycles. Take one to the bus terminal in Dao (~P15)
in Dao, take the jeep that plies the Panglao route (~P20)

Tagbilaran (Bohol) to Cebu City by boat

** schedules and rates keep changing, call for latest schedule

Weesam Express - departs 6:15 AM, 11:30 AM, 4:00 PM
one way: Economy (aircon) P500.00, Economy (non-aircon) P400.00, First Class P600.00
round trip promo (at least 2 days advance booking): Economy (aircon) P600, Economy(non-aircon) P500, First Class P1200
round trip promo (1 day or on the day booking): Economy (aircon) P800, Economy (non-aircon) P700, First Class P1200
Ocean Jet - departs 6-7:05-8:20-9:20-10:40-11:40AM, 1-2-3:30-4:20-5:30-6:30PM, 2 hours, arrives Pier 1 in Cebu
Open Air / Tourist Class P800, Business Class P1000
+63(32)255 7560 / +63 (32) 255 0115 / 0917 638 0000
SuperCat (2GO) - departs 5:50-11AM, 3:45-5:25-8:15PM, arrives Pier 1 in Cebu
P 500.00
+63 32 233 7000

Things to do, Places to go in Bohol

Chocolate Hills - this is a clustering of more than 1200 hills within a 50km² area. They range in height from 30-50 meters. What's unusual is their near-perfect conical shape resembling an individual chocolate chip. No one knows how they were formed. Entrance is P50/pax.
Tarsier Conservation Area - located Upper Bonbon, Loboc. The tarsiers are no longer being played at by tourists as circus props, but instead, visitors now view them in cordoned-off areas in their natural 6ha habitat. As they are territorial and nocturnal, they are predictable on where they can be viewed. P50/pax.
Alona Beach (Panglao) - Alona Beach is the tourist hub of Bohol. It has 1.5 kms of white sand beach lined-up by bars, hotels and restos. Alona is also the jump-off point for Balicasag Island, a world class dive destination.
Danao Adventure Park - located in Barangay Magtangtang, 72 kms (2 hours ride) from Tagbilaran. Adventure activities include river trekking, tyrolean traverse, rappelling, bouldering, rock climbing and ziplining.

Blogs

Bohol blogs