Bring the stock, water, & coconut milk to a rapid, rolling boil in a large pot over a high flame for about 10 minutes.
Put the onion, garlic, galangal, chilies, Thai chili jam, tamarind paste, brown sugar & fish sauce or salt to a food processor & pulse until everything is well combined and minced.

Toss this mixture to the soup, and once it comes to a rapid boil again add in the bruised lemongrass, coriander roots and  kaffir lime leaves.

Boil this for 5 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and boil for another 1-2 minutes, or until they just start to turn tender. Toss in  the raw shrimp and  cook until they just  turn pink, i.e., only about 1-2 minutes or so under a rolling boil. Toss in the roughly torn baby bok choy leaves and  turn off stove.

Remove the pot from the  heat and add the lime juice and sesame seed oil. Stir well to combine.

Give the soup a taste soup and adjust the seasonings if need be , to suit your personal preferences. Discard lemongrass and lime leaves  before serving. Ladle out soup into bowls.

Garnish each bowl with the cherry tomatoes, spring onions, Thai basil, coriander sprigs, the one  extra kaffir leaf per bowl with some  sliced chilies (if desired).
Serve hot up this wonderous  hot slurp of immunity
 
* Vegeterians can replace the chicken stock  with a vegetable stock , fish sauce can be replaced with salt and the prawns with hard tofu or paneer


Seema Bhatia is a Professional cooking instructor, food writer & enthusiastic foodie, Seema Bhatia  runs  cookery classes and loves everything foodie. Born and raised in Nairobi she continues to travel the globe learning new skills that she shares along the way.