Ok, I admit, my addition is starting to hit my pocketbook. Has anyone made this soup at home and have a decent recipe for it? The bigger question is where can I get the ingrediants, and can I freeze lemon grass for future uses? Can anyone hlep me???

Ingredients can be found most easily at any of the big asian grocery stores -- Hanh Ah Reum for example. Or you'll probably find everything you need at the Thai Market on Fenton in downtown SS.

I'll have to see if i have a recipe for this particular soup.

I googled a 1/2 dozen recipes that looked good. Most have coconut milk, chicken, chicken broth, fresh ginger, fish sauce, lemon grass, lime, green onions, cilantro, chile peppers and other normal spices. Options incude chicken, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and bok choy.

Question anyone use a product called "Tom Yum Paste" or "Tom Ka Paste"? I will assume that this is like anyother prepackaged spice set and that fresher is better.

You should be able to get all of those if your local mega-mart is a good one. I've gotten all of the above at Safeway and/or Giant.

That's what I like about you, Joe: you're such a Tom-Ka guy.

I love the Tom Yum Paste in a jar but I add some Tamarind Soup powder and chicken broth to it to get the level of tartness and flavor that I like.

I've found a prepackaged "kit" at some of the Thai markets with most of the goodies you'll need to make Tom Yum or Tom Kha Gai. I used to get them at the now-closed place that was in Del Ray, but I've also picked one up at the Bangkok 54 market.

Check the freezer section - comes plastic-wrapped on a little styrofoam tray with galangal, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, chiles, and lemongrass. Grab a jar of tom yum paste, chicken stock for tom yum gai, and coconut milk for tom kha, and you're all set. Tom Yum takes all of about 10 minutes to whip up. I usually make it with shrimp.

The tom yum paste is what my recipes call for - I haven't seen anything that describes how to make it from scratch or what goes into it.

Excellant suggestions from all! I will follow-up in a week or so with a recipe and the results of my efforts!

Not sure if it's still in print, but check out Practical Thai Cooking by Puangkram C. Schmitz and Michael J. Worman (pub. Kondansha International).

I have never tasted the difference in fresh v. frozen lemongrass stalks. Just throw that expensive little package in a zipper freezer bag and take out the stalks to cut them up as you need them.

Good luck and let us know how it goes-