The History of Tom Yum Soup
I searched for the history of Tom Yum and came up empty-handed – in my experience, this is almost always the mark of a very ancient dish, one that preceded written recipes and has become such a part of the culture it does not need further explanation.
According to Wiens, “There’s little information about the history of Tom Yum, but many say that it’s a central Thai soup that developed due to an abundance of freshwater shrimp. Boiled in water as a soup, the shrimp gave the broth a real fishy flavor, so cooks started experimenting by adding local Thai herbs into the boiling water to balance the fishy flavor. The trio of herbs that worked so well to infuse the broth with a beautiful aroma were kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and galangal, which are still the three most important ingredients in any bowl of Tom Yum.”
This makes total sense, as Thailand’s natural highway – the Chao Phraya River – flows through central Thailand almost straight south through Bangkok, then empties into the Gulf of Thailand. The river’s fish and water fowl have fed numberless generations of Thai people, and Bangkok’s famous floating markets are filled with upriver people who come to sell their wares. Freshwater shrimp from the river would have become a Bangkok staple early on, along with other ingredients needed for the soup.
Tom Yum’s history in the U.S. is shorter and much easier to trace. America’s first Thai restaurant opened in Denver around 1960, the brainchild of the Thai wife of a visiting doctor. An outspoken political journalist in her home country, Lily Chittivej liked America’s freedom from political pressure and stayed. She opened the Chada Café at 408 E. 20th Avenue against the advice of Thai friends who told her that Americans would never eat there. They did, and the restaurant prospered. More Thai restaurants opened in Los Angeles near the end of the ‘60s, and the trend got a big boost when servicemen returning from Vietnam found they missed the light, fresh foods of Southeast Asia. Today, Thai is one of America’s favorite cuisines, and can be found from everywhere from Fairbanks to Key West.