Tom yum paste substitutes

The dark, sweet, roasted chili paste in soybean oil that is the main ingredient of most jarred tom yum pastes.

Best for

tom yum goong and tom yum noodle soup, the closest single-jar swap, adding roasted depth to any Thai soup

Closest by a wide margin, since it is essentially the same paste with the aromatics left out. Add the lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves yourself, or the soup will taste roasted and sweet but not fragrant. Nam prik pao is also sweeter and less sour than tom yum paste, so add an extra squeeze of lime and hold back any sugar the recipe calls for.

The original recipe, built from scratch, which is what the paste is imitating.

Best for

the best-tasting version, controlling heat and salt exactly, anyone who can get lemongrass and lime leaves

Cleaner, brighter and much less oily than the jarred version, and most people prefer it once they try it. The one thing it does not have is the roasted, faintly sweet depth that comes from the fried chili paste in the jar, so stir in a teaspoon of chili paste or a spoonful of chili crisp oil at the end if you want that. Simmer the aromatics for 10 minutes, then add the lime juice off the heat.

Other Southeast Asian pastes that share the lemongrass and galangal base.

Best for

when the Asian aisle has one paste and it is not tom yum, noodle soups, coconut versions of the soup

Tom kha paste is the closer of the two: same aromatic backbone, but milder and built for a coconut milk soup, so it is rounder and less sour. Push it back with double lime and a teaspoon of chili paste. Laksa paste is heavier on coriander seed, dried shrimp and often candlenut, so the soup comes out thicker and nuttier and reads Malaysian rather than Thai.

The paste most people already have, pushed toward hot and sour.

Best for

tom yum style noodle bowls, coconut versions of the soup, when the Thai section of your supermarket is one shelf

Red curry paste has the lemongrass and galangal but is built for a rich coconut curry, not a clear sour soup, so the result tastes deeper, more cumin-and-coriander, and much less sour. It will also make the broth cloudy. Doubling the lime and adding a teaspoon of tamarind gets it recognisably close; it is a tom yum style soup rather than tom yum.

A plain chili paste supplying heat, with tamarind for the sour side.

Best for

when heat and sourness are what is missing, well-stocked Western pantries, quick weeknight soup

This gives you the heat and the sour but tastes raw and one-dimensional, because there is no roasted note and no aromatic base at all. With this route the fresh lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves are not optional, they are the whole dish. Fry the chili paste in a teaspoon of oil for 30 seconds first, which takes the raw edge off it.

The last resort, using bottled hot sauce for the chili element.

Best for

absolutely nothing else in the house, a quick sour spicy broth, instant noodle upgrades

The weakest option here and worth being honest about. Sriracha is sweet, garlicky and vinegar-sharp, so the soup tastes tangy and sweet rather than roasted and citrus-sour, and it will tint the broth pink-orange. Ginger, a strip of lime zest and plenty of cilantro do more to rescue it than more sriracha will.