英语博客(A cup of English):Tom yung goong

Beginners.

One of our favorite soups to eat is Tom Yung Goong. It is Thai soup that we first discovered in the local Thai restaurant. Someone recommended it to us. As with the rest of their food, the restaurant gives you the choice of the food being mild, medium, or spicy¹. We usually order the soup medium; I can't handle spicy. It's far too hot. This soup is a traditional recipe that is used to help people get over colds and flus in Thailand. It's ingredients are not only very healthy, but also extremely tasty, enough to make your mouth water. I decided² to download the recipe and try to make it at home. I looked over the list of ingredients and got them out of the fridge. But I had one problem; an essential ingredient was missing. Instead of having fish sauce, I only had oyster³ sauce. "Well, that will have to do," I thought to myself, "I'll just have to make it work." The way the soup is made is basically mixing the bouillon, then adding raw vegetables, and some briefly⁴ cooked shrimp⁵. I suppose you can add anything you fancy. I didn't have any shrimp either, so I used cooked chicken that was nicely browned and tasty. I cut it into short chunks⁶ and added it to the finished product. It turned out to be a different sort of Tom Yung Goong, but actually, my family enjoyed it.

Grammar notes.

Vocabulary: to handle, the choice of, essential, raw.

1. I can't handle this situation; it is too much for me.

2. We had the choice of roast beef or fried chicken.

3. Good sleep is essential for optimal⁷ health.

4. I love to dip raw vegetables in ranch⁸ dressing⁹.

Advanced.

To make Tom Yung Goong you will need:

1-2 limes

lime leaves

Chile paste or flakes¹⁰ (to taste)

1 tablespoon of lemongrass

2 tablespoons of fish sauce

4 cups of water

 fresh mushrooms, cilantro, green onions and whatever other vegetables you prefer

1-2 handfuls of raw shrimp.

Put the water, lime juice, chile, fish sauce, and a couple of lime leaves in a large saucepan. Bring to boil and then simmer for a few minutes. Add the shrimp and turn off the heat. Watch and stir the shrimp until they are cooked. They get rubbery very quickly, so they don't need to be cooked very long. When the shrimp are cooked, add the chopped, raw vegetables and serve. One of the things I like most about this soup is that it is so easy to make. It is extremely quick to make. You could actually make many variations of this soup, depending on your preferences. Would you prefer a fish based soup or chicken? Would you prefer asian type vegetables or regular. You could even make it more substantial by adding rice or noodles of some type. Yum! I actually looked for the fish sauce today in the local supermarket but they didn't have any. I need to find a specialty¹¹ shop; it's hard to do so in this small town. I think that there must be a small asian supplier somewhere because we do have a small and varied¹² asian community in town. I must ask where I can find the right ingredients.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: your preferences, specialty, substantial, supplier.

1. When you join an on-line dating service, you have to tell the company your preferences.

2. That specialty shop sells only mechanical toys.

3. This German bread is so substantial; one slice and you are full!

4. He was a garden chemical supplier for many years.

 

1 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 oyster   

n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人

参考例句：

• I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎，它味道真美。
• I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时，我发现我相当喜欢吃。

4 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

5 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。

6 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

7 optimal   

adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的

参考例句：

• What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
• Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。

8 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

9 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

10 flakes   

小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人

参考例句：

• It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
• It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。

11 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

12 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。