Lee says: “The next time you’re lacking inspiration in the kitchen, reach for a jar of shop-bought tom yum paste. I’ve used it to rescue dinners for most of my adult life. The paste brings a distinctive sweet, sour and spicy profile to anything it touches.

“Combined with stock, you can easily create a speedy version of tom yum soup in under 15 minutes from first chop to first slurp. It’s an iconic hot-and sour-soup from Thailand with a heady fragrance of lemongrass, lime leaves, galangal and chillies. ‘Tom’ means boil, and ‘yum’ describes bringing fresh ingredients together to achieve a sour, spicy and sweet flavour. It’s often made with prawns, but it works just as well with other proteins.

“The amount of tom yum paste I recommend here is a guide; some pastes will be spicier, others will be more fragrant or citrusy, so season the broth with paste to your liking. To make it vegan, omit the eggs and check that your jar of tom yum paste is vegan.”

Serves 2

Ingredients

100g dried rice noodles
2 eggs
fine sea salt, to taste
5 tbsp tom yum paste, or to taste
100g cherry tomatoes, halved
50g beansprouts and/or 1 spring onion, cut into thin matchsticks
Your choice of short-cook vegetable: 100g oyster mushrooms, torn into bite-sized pieces, or 100g shiitake mushrooms, stalks removed and sliced wafer thin, or 100g broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets
Your choice of hero ingredient: 180g peeled raw prawns, or 100g smoked or marinated tofu, patted dry and sliced, or 180g shredded leftover cooked chicken

Method

Boil the kettle and soak the noodles according to the packet instructions. Put the eggs in a saucepan and top with cold water until just submerged, along with a generous pinch of salt. Cover and bring to the boil, then reduce to a cheerful bubble and cook for 6 minutes. After 6 minutes, run the eggs under cold water, then peel and cut in half. Cook for 2 minutes longer if your eggs were fridge-cold. Set aside.

Fill another saucepan with 750ml of boiling water, add 5 tablespoons tom yum paste and stir to dissolve. Taste the soup and add more tom yum paste until your desired flavour is achieved, as different tom yum paste brands will have different intensities.

Bring the liquid to a boil. Add the cherry tomatoes along with your short-cook vegetables, bring to the boil and simmer for 2–3 minutes.

Add the hero ingredient and cook at a steady simmer until warmed through, about 1 minute. The prawns, if using, will poach gently for 30 seconds until pink and just cooked through. The tofu or chicken, if using, should already be cooked and just need to be warmed through.

Drain the noodles and divide between two bowls. Pour the soup on top of the noodles and top with the beansprouts or spring onion and egg. Serve immediately.

3 under 30-minute Asian-inspired recipes that pack a serious flavour punch