Our reporter P.K. Sanjun is something of a tom yum goong fan. In fact, P.K. believes this spicy/sour Thai/Lao soup is one of the three great soups of the world (the other two are bouillabaisse and shark fin soup, since you asked).
So when P.K. heard that Domino’s Pizza in Japan was launching a tom yum goong pizza, he was somewhat skeptical. “They don’t even have tom yum pizza in Thailand!” he points out. But in the interests of investigative journalism, P.K. put aside his misgivings and ordered one spicy soup-flavoured pizza. And boy, did he love it.
Our reporter ordered a tom yum goong pizza on the very day it launched in Japan – June 15th. While waiting for his delivery, he considered the task ahead of him. Tom yum soup is sour as well as hot, and P.K’s main reservations were about this sour flavour. He was confident that spicy pizza would taste good, but would the sourness of tom yum goong go with a cheesy topping?
▼ There was only one way to find out!
A medium tom yum goong pizza is 2,450 yen (US $20), while a large comes in at 3,700 yen. P.K. opted for the large, because…well, pizza.
After P.K. had waited patiently for thirty minutes, the delivery guy showed up…and our reporter caught the distinctive whiff of tom yum goong! “It smelled just like they had delivered tom yum soup to my door!” he says.
▼ You could say it smelt…tom yummy?!
As well as the seafood (specifically prawns) that make up the goong in tom yum goong, this pizza has aubergine/eggplant, spinach, and mushrooms. The interesting bit, though, is really the sauce. In addition to tomato sauce and mayonnaise (lots of pizzas in Japan have mayonnaise on them), this has an orange tom yum goong paste, which is what’s bringing the spicy soup flavour to this pizza party.
P.K. threw caution to the wind and took a bite. “IT TASTES LIKE TOM YUM GOONG!” he declared excitedly. “This is no half-baked marketing exercise. It actually tastes just like tom yum goong!!”
Usually, P.K. realised, pizzas have some acidity already because of the tomato sauce. This pizza just takes that delicious sourness to another level. “If you like tom yum goong, you should try this at least once,” he declares. Domino’s, incidentally, even recommend their tom yum goong pizza for people who’ve never tried the soup.
Our reporter only had one minor suggestion to make to Domino’s: “If this had coriander/cilantro on it too, it’d be five times as delicious!”
Tom yum goong pizza is on sale from now until the end of September (unless P.K. orders too many and causes a national shortage, that is). Catch this unprecedented pizza while you can!
Original article by P.K. Sanjun
Photos ©RocketNews24