If you love the punchy hot-and-sour flavours of Thai Tom Yum, this easy Tom Yum Fish recipe is a delicious way to turn them into a quick dinner. In this recipe, tender salmon fillets are gently simmered in a fragrant Tom Yum sauce with lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger and garlic for plenty of zing and flavour. Instead of making a traditional Tom Yum soup, this recipe uses Tom Yum paste to make a more concentrated sauce that’s perfect for spooning over steamed jasmine rice. It’s spicy, tangy and aromatic, but incredibly straightforward to make thanks to the ready-made paste.
Salmon is my go-to fish for this recipe because its richness works particularly well against those sharp Tom Yum flavours, though you can easily swap it for cod, sea bass or another firm fish.
Why You’ll Love This Tom Yum Fish Recipe
- Big flavours with minimal effort – using ready-made Tom Yum paste gives you plenty of spicy, tangy and aromatic flavour without having to make a paste from scratch.
- Perfect for salmon – the richness of salmon stands up particularly well to the punchy Tom Yum sauce.
- Easy to customise – adjust the amount of water for a thicker sauce or a slightly soupier consistency, and tweak the amount of Tom Yum paste to suit your spice preference.
- Great for weeknight dinners – serve it over jasmine rice and add some vegetables on the side for an easy, flavour-packed meal.
What Is Tom Yum Fish?
Tom Yum is best known as the famous Thai hot-and-sour soup, traditionally flavoured with aromatic ingredients such as lemongrass, galangal and makrut lime leaves. Its signature flavour is fragrant, citrusy, spicy and tangy.
This Tom Yum Fish recipe takes inspiration from those flavours but isn’t intended to be a traditional Tom Yum Pla (Thai fish soup). Instead, I use Tom Yum paste together with fresh aromatics to create a punchy sauce in which the salmon gently cooks. The result is somewhere between saucy and soupy depending on how much water you add, making it especially good served over rice.
How to Make Tom Yum Fish
Ingredients You Need
- Salmon Fillets – I love using salmon here because its rich flavour pairs particularly well with the sharp and spicy sauce. Skinless fillets are easiest to serve, but either will work.
- Tom Yum Paste – the shortcut that packs most of the flavour into the sauce. Different brands vary in spice and saltiness, so you may need to adjust the quantity slightly to taste.
- Lemongrass – adds that distinctive fresh citrusy aroma. Use the tender white part of the stalk.
- Makrut Lime Leaves (a.k.a Kaffir Lime Leaves) – another classic Tom Yum aromatic that adds a wonderfully fragrant citrus note to the sauce.
- Ginger & Garlic – form the aromatic base of the sauce.
- Red Onion – softens and adds a little natural sweetness to balance the tangy Tom Yum flavours.
- Fish Sauce – adds savoury depth and saltiness. Taste your Tom Yum paste before adding extra, as some pastes are already quite salty.
- Spring Onions – added towards the end for freshness and a little extra flavour.
- Water
- Cooking OIl
What Tom Yum Paste Should I Use?
For convenience, this recipe uses ready-made Tom Yum paste rather than making the flavour base completely from scratch. I typically use Mae Ploy Tom Yum Paste, which has a good balance of tangy, aromatic and spicy flavours and is readily available from Asian supermarkets and online.
Tom Yum pastes can vary considerably between brands, particularly in their spice and salt levels. I recommend starting with the amount listed in the recipe and adjusting to taste. If you’re using a particularly salty paste, you may also want to reduce the fish sauce slightly.
Keeping a jar of Tom Yum paste in the cupboard is handy beyond making soup, too. I love using it as a quick flavour base for seafood dishes like this one.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Don’t overcook the salmon. Gently simmer the fish just until it’s cooked through and flakes easily. The exact cooking time will depend on the thickness of your fillets.
- Adjust the consistency to your liking. Start with around ½ cup (120ml) of water for a more concentrated sauce. Add a little more if you’d prefer it soupier or want extra sauce for spooning over rice.
- Taste before adding extra fish sauce. Tom Yum paste already contains plenty of seasoning and different brands vary in saltiness, so adjust the fish sauce accordingly.
- Adjust the spice level. If your Tom Yum paste is particularly spicy, start with slightly less and add more to taste. For extra heat, you can add sliced fresh chillies when serving.
- Let the paste cook with the aromatics. Frying the Tom Yum paste briefly before adding the water helps intensify its flavour and brings the sauce together.
- Use a wide pan if possible. You want enough room for the salmon fillets to sit comfortably in the sauce without overlapping.
What Fish Can I Use for Tom Yum Fish?
Salmon is my favourite choice for this recipe, but you can use other fish depending on what you have available. Cod is a great alternative if you prefer a mild white fish, while sea bass works particularly well with the fragrant Thai-inspired flavours. Other firm white fish such as haddock or monkfish can work too.
Whichever fish you choose, keep in mind that thinner fillets will cook more quickly than thick salmon fillets, so adjust the simmering time accordingly.
What to Serve with Tom Yum Fish
My favourite way to serve Tom Yum fish is with steamed jasmine rice, which soaks up all that spicy, tangy sauce beautifully.
For a more complete meal, pair it with a simple vegetable side such as stir-fried pak choi, broccoli, green beans or Asian greens. You can also serve it with coconut rice if you want something slightly richer to balance the sharp Tom Yum flavours. Spoon plenty of the sauce over the fish and rice, then finish with sliced spring onions, fresh coriander or Thai basil if you have some.
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Easy Tom Yum Fish (Tom Yum Salmon)
Ingredients
- 300 g Salmon Fillets
- 1-2 stalks Lemongrass (white part only) chopped
- ½ large Red Onion sliced
- 1 clove Garlic sliced
- 1 inch Ginger peeled and finely sliced
- 2 tbsp Tom Yum Paste
- 3-4 pieces Kaffir Lime Leaves
- ½ – 1 cup Water
- ½ tsp Fish Sauce
- Spring Onions sliced plus more for garnish
- 1 tbsp Vegetable / Sunflower Oil
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan/wok over medium-high heat. Fry ginger, garlic, and lemongrass for a minute until fragrant.
- Add in the sliced onions, saute for 5 minutes until softened.
- Stir in Tom Yum paste and Kaffir Lime Leaves. Cook for about 5 minutes until the colour starts to deepen.
- Season with fish sauce and stir in water (adjust accordingly to your desired consistency).
- Add in salmon fillets, making sure they are well-nestled in the sauce. Turn to low heat, cover and simmer for 7-10 minutes until the salmon's cooked through.
- Sprinkle in spring onions and allow to cook for another 2 minutes until the spring onions start to wilt.
- Garnish with more spring onions if you like and serve immediately.
Notes
- I used the Mae Ploy Thai Tom Yum Paste, which is readily available at most oriental stores.
- You can replace the salmon fillets with the likes of seabass, etc.Â
- Adjust the water amount accordingly to how you want the consistency of your sauce. Start by using 1/2 cup and gradually add more if you like.
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It was great. I have fresh Thai basil and used that instead of parsley. It was gourmet-level delicious! THANK YOU for sharing! It was very difficult to post this due to all the adds on this page blocking my view, but I persevered even though I can’t see what I’m typing. I wanted to acknowledge your excellence in doing this and making me look like I know what I’m doing with a salmon fillet.
Hi Baylee, thank you for your comment and I’m so pleased you enjoy the recipe. Love that you used fresh Thai basil in it because the flavours totally match, if not even better!
I’m sorry that you were having difficulties typing this comment, can you let me know if this is on desktop, mobile, or tablet so that I can investigate?