Tom Yum Fried Rice

Love the taste of sour, spicy, flavorful Tom Yum Soup?

Tom Yum Fried Rice is all the flavors of Tom Yum, packed into a quick weeknight dinner!

Why you’ll love this recipe

• A Thai cooking class instructor (aka me, Sherri! :)) will be teaching you step-by-step all my top Thai cooking secrets in this recipe!
• A new spin on Thai fried rice and a fun way to bring excitement to your weeknight dinners!
• A creative way to use leftover ingredients like day old rice, tomatoes and mushrooms!
• Easy to do, especially after reading my top 5 tips for making fried rice!

What is Tom Yum Fried Rice?

Tom Yum soup is one of the most famous Thai soups because it’s bursting with citrusy, spicy, savory, sweet flavors.

Tom Yum Fried Rice is taking all those flavors and turning them into a flavor-packed fried rice dish that uses a homemade Tom Yum paste, tomatoes, and mushrooms, or whatever veggies you have in your fridge that you need to use up. 

Sherri’s Story

Thai fried rice is magical. 

It’s made of all the things that you find when pillaging around in your fridge, and after taking a whiff, say with a crinkled nose, “I think this is still ok??”

But when those on the brink ingredients are mixed up in crispy fried rice they become better than ok, they are reborn into a new creation that is even better than it ever was on its own.

As I was doing some of my own fridge pillaging this week, I stumbled upon some finely chopped lemongrass in my freezer, and my tongue started tingling when I also saw some chopped tomatoes and mushrooms in my veggie drawer.

Oh wow, Tom Yum Fried Rice!!!

Tom Yum is one of the most well-known Thai soups because it’s bursting with flavor from lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, tamarind, Thai chili paste, and fish sauce, and when those flavors unite an irresistible Thai taste is born.

The awesome thing about the hard to find Tom Yum ingredients, like lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and homemade tamarind paste, is that they can all hang out in your freezer for months!

So if you don’t have those ingredients, go take a much needed trip to your local Asian store, pick them up, freeze them, and then make Tom Yum Paste,  Tom Yum soup, Tom Yum Pastai and Tom Yum Fried Rice all the days to your heart’s content!

And if you are like me, and it can be hard to make fried rice turn out like your favorite Asian restaurant’s, check out my post on 5 Tips on How to Make Perfect Fried Rice.

What’s your favorite way to bring rice and ingredients back to life?

Ingredient Notes

• 2-4 tablespoons of Tom Yum Paste (homemade or store bought): I like to use my homemade version, but you can also buy it online or at your local Asian market. You can also substitute it. Look below under the Additions and Substitutions heading for how to substitute many of these ingredients.

• 1/2 cup diced mushrooms of choice (we love baby bella): Tom Yum soup always has mushrooms in it, but if you don’t have any, just use whatever veggies you have in your fridge.

• 3 servings of shrimp of choice, peeled, deveined with tail-off: Typically Tom Yum soup is served with shrimp, but feel free to use another protein.

• 1/2 white onion, finely chopped: adds a mild, sweet, depth of flavor to the dish.

• 4 cups of at least a day old, cold cooked jasmine rice (the drier the better): Thai Hubby likes extra-moist rice, so ours takes an extra day to get dry, or you can also dry it out on a baking sheet for 15 minutes in the freezer.

• 1 tbsp Thai roasted chili paste, prik pao:  love this savory, spicy, sweet paste with deep-roasted smoky flavors. We always add it to our Tom Yum Soup.

• 1 tbsp tamarind paste (optional): Tamarind paste is normally added to Tom Yum soup to give it a sour, with a hint of sweetness tangy note, look below for how to substitute it. 

• juice of 1 lime or more to taste, plus one lime quartered for serving: Lime juice adds the sour flavors that make you think of Tom Yum soup.

• 1 cup diced tomatoes: remove the seeds, so that they don’t add extra moisture to the fried rice. 

• 1-2 tbsp fish sauce: My fav magical Thai ingredient! Even though it’s smelly, you’d never know once you add it to your Thai dish because all you taste is the savory, umami flavor that can’t be replicated with any other sauce!

• 1-2 tbsp sugar: Helps balance the sour flavors. 

• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves: adds sharp, clean notes and sprinkled on each serving makes Tom Yum fried rice look extra pretty!

• 1 Kaffir lime leaf: the Tom Yum paste is already loaded with these, but we like to add extra to give it an extra pop of citrusy flavor, and also make it pop!

How to make Tom Yum Fried Rice : Step by Step

• In a large wok, warm a couple of tablespoons of cooking oil of choice. 

• Add 1 tablespoon of Tom Yum Paste and stir-fry until fragrant.

• Add mushrooms, and shrimp and stir-fry until shrimp are cooked through, and mushrooms are softened, just takes a few minutes. 

• Take out everything that’s in your wok or pan, and place it on a plate.

• Add a few more tablespoons of cooking oil over high heat.

• Add 2-3 more tablespoons of Tom Yum paste to the wok and warm until fragrant. 

• Add the onion, and cook until translucent. 

• Break up any chunks of rice, and then add it to the pan, spreading it out as much as possible.

• Let it crisp up some, without moving it for a minute or so.

• Then start stir-frying, and add in the Thai chili paste, tamarind paste (if using) and lime juice, and stir it up until it’s combined.

• Add in everything that you had taken out, plus the tomatoes, fish sauce and sugar.

• Stir-fry for about a minute until everything is mixed in, and turn off the heat.

• Taste it and add more lime juice, sugar or fish sauce to taste. 

• Sprinkle on the cilantro leaves and kaffir lime leaf over each serving, and serve with a wedge of lime. 

• Enjoy!

Recipe Tips & Tricks

• If you like spicy, but the rest of those eating it can’t handle the heat, make spicy Thai Seasoning Sauce to go with the fried rice, so those who like spicy can add it to taste. 
• Making any kind of fried rice is trickier than it looks! To learn all my fried rice secrets, read my 5 tips on How to Make Perfect Fried Rice.

Storage & Reheating

Fridge: 

• According to the USDA, leftovers like fried rice are still good after 3-4 days of being in the fridge.

Freezer:

• According to the USDA, leftovers like fried rice are still good after 3-4 months of being frozen. Once the rice is completely cooled, transfer it to freezer bags in desired portion sizes.

Reheat:

• To defrost frozen fried rice, place it in the fridge overnight and use within one day of thawing. Or heat small portions of the frozen rice in the microwave.

Additions and Substitutions

Thai Yum Paste substitution: If you aren’t up for making your own paste, or can’t buy it, you can substitute the Tom Yum paste with fresh ingredients like this:

• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2-5 Thai chili peppers, to spice preference (optional)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped lemongrass (take off the easy to peel outer layers, and then cut up the middle part of the stalk as finely as possible, use a food processor if you want to really break it down)
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped with the stems taken out

Cooked jasmine rice substitute: Use any day old rice you have on hand, even if it’s not jasmine. If you only have freshly cooked rice, you can dry it out on a baking sheet for 15 minutes in the freezer, or until it feels like the grains have separated some. 

White onion substitute: Use any shallots or onions you have on hand.

Mushrooms and Tomato substitute: Replace with any veggies you need to use up, fried rice is flexible and really I use it most of the time to clean out the fridge!

Thai Roasted Chili Paste substitute: Substitute with the same amount of Gochujang. 

Fish sauce substitute: The same amount of your favorite soy sauce or coconut aminos. 

Fresh lime juice substitute: 1-2 tbsp of bottled lime juice. 

Tamarind substitute: The same amount of rice vinegar. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What flavor is Tom Yum fried rice? What does it taste like?

Tom Yum Fried Rice is bursting with flavor from Tom Yum Paste that’s made with:

• Lemongrass
• Galangal
• Kaffir lime leaves
• Tamarind
• Roasted Thai chilies
• Thai chili paste 
• Fish sauce

Tom Yum Fried Rice has all those irresistible citrusy, spicy, savory, sweet Thai flavors.

What is Tom Yum Fried Rice in Thai language?

Tom Yum Fried Rice written in Thai is ข้าวผัดต้มยำ, Khao Pad Tom Yum. 

Is Tom Yum Fried Rice spicy?

It depends on you!

If you order Tom Yum Fried Rice in Thailand, typically it will be spicy since Tom Yum soup is known for being very spicy. 

But the spiciness is in the Tom Yum Paste, so if you don’t add as much of that, it won’t be as spicy, but also, it won’t have as much flavor.

But if you make your own homemade Tom Yum Paste, don’t add as many Thai chilis, and then it won’t be spicy.

Is Tom Yum Fried Rice healthy?

Tom Yum Fried Rice has a Tom Yum paste that is loaded with Thai herbs like lemongrass that help relieve pain, and also it has veggies like tomatoes that improve your heart health so all of that is great for your health!

But if you use a lot of oil, and depending what oil you use to fry it in, it can be not as healthy, so it’s really up to you. 

Other Recipes You’ll Love

• Green Curry Fried Rice
• Thai Pineapple Fried Rice
• 5 Tips for How to Make Perfect Fried Rice
• Khao Pad | Thai Fried Rice

And don’t forget to follow me @thaifoodie to see my recipes like this one on my story highlights!

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