An Amuse-Bouche of Tom Yum Goong and Shichimi Onigiri

Here is a look at a very popular amuse-bouche that I serve new clients. It’s a Thai-Japanese fusion dish. If you’ve been following me a while, you’ll see a pattern there! Thai this and Thai that!

We have a shot glass of Tom Yum Soup, a large prawn (shrimp) and a ball of rice called Onigiri in Japanese, coated in a spice mix. Sometimes, I serve just the Tom Yum Soup as you see it, without the rice. So after chomping nibbling on the prawn, one would just sip the soup. Folks unused to amuse-bouche are always a little, erm, amused at the whole exercise, but always in a good way! That’s kind of the idea, I guess!

This is, in fact, the second Thai-Japanese fusion recipe that I have, the first one I made years ago, is the Pad Thai Tamagoyaki (click for the recipe):

For our Amuse-Bouche of Tom Yum Goong and Shichimi Onigiri today, I don’t have a recipe as such for you. It’s a case of making up the Tom Yum Soup (click for homemade recipe) for the number of people you are cooking for and making the same number of onigiri (rice balls) using either homemade or shop bought Shichimi Togarashi, the Japanese 7 flavour spice mix (click for recipe and to read more):

How to get this Amuse-Bouche done seamlessly:

Cook the rice, which should take about 16 – 18 minutes.

Then cook the tom yum. This will take 17 minutes.

Get the plates, shot glasses and the mango slices ready and set aside, while the rice and soup are cooking.

As soon as the rice is cooked (you don’t need sushi rice here), tip it out onto a large plate to cool down so you can handle it easily.

As soon as the prawns are cooked, take them out to cool slightly and thread them.

Keep everything warm until ready to serve.

If the prawns have cooled down, which they probably will:

Set everything else up, that is, the rice and fruit slices.

Then, bring the tom yum soup to simmering point, pop the prawns in for 30 – 60 seconds, then plate up and serve. This really does want a quick hand, as we do not want to ruin the prawns by overcooking.

Make Ahead

This whole amuse-bouche can be prepared ahead, just re-heat the tom yum and prawns before serving. The onigiri are fine at room temperature.

I know fine dining plating isn’t for everyone. But I also know many of you who read this blog love to experiment with presentations like this. So, if you do give it a try, let me know how it goes. And I’m always happy to hear requests.

Lin xx

An Amuse-Bouche of Tom Yum Goong and Shichimi Onigiri

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★★★★★

5 from 8 reviews

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes

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Ingredients

• tom yum soup for 4, with 4 prawns
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 tsp shichimi togarashi
• 4 rounds slices of mango or even orange slices

You will also need:

• 4 shot glasses
• 4 cocktail sticks or something similar

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Instructions

1. Mix the rice up with the spice mix.
2. Form into 4 little balls and set aside. You’ll probably have extra rice.
3. Fill the shot glasses 2 thirds of the way up with the tom yum soup.
4. Thread the prawns with the cocktail sticks and arrange on the glasses, as seen in the picture.
5. Place the 4 shot glasses on individual plates.
6. Place a mango or orange slice next to the glass and top with the onigiri (rice ball).
7. Scatter some togarashi for effect.
8. Serve immediately.

Notes

Total time takes into account the cooking of the tom yum goong and the rice.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 4