Tom Yam (Thai Soup) (1965)

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http://www.oed.com/newsletters/2000-07/appeals.html
tom yam, tom yum (kung/gung) n. (Thai soup):
antedate 1978

(GOOGLE)
 http://www.oed.com/readers/appeal.html
tom yam, tom yum (kung/gung) n. (Thai soup)
antedate 1978
(now antedated to 1977)

   "You've got no air conditioning?" someone with a parking ticket asked me yesterday.  The room was warm.  "This is a good way to lose weight!" he commented.
   Then I went home, then tried a Thai place for dinner.
   And then it's Saturday, so I go to the NYPL's Mid Manhattan Library and tell them once again that "the Big Apple" doesn't come from whores.  And then I go across the street and ask NYPL research library (you have to personally approach every library, and every library branch, and every librarian, at least five times, for at least twelve years), why, with the Republicans coming to town, and the NYPL's web page seemingly revised, it still has this:

http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/faq.html
   How did New York City come to be known  as "The Big Apple"?
There is no single, authoritative answer as to why New York City is known as The Big Apple.  (...)

   And then I meet up with David Shulman, and I get the latest news on the St. Nicholas Senior Center, and of course he's got more poems, and life is like this every day, every week, every year...


SIAMESE COOKERY
by Marie M. Wilson
Rutland, Vermont:  Charles E. Tuttle
1965

Pg. 51:
Sour Shrimp Soup
Dom Yam Kung
   The "Sour" soups are typically Thai.  They usually contain lemon grass and _makrut_ (Kaffir lime) leaves, both of which contribute the tart flavor  but are hard to come by in this country.  You find bits of red chili floating on top of the _dom yam_ too, and the combination makes the unsuspecting eater cry and cough.  These recipes are tame.  Go easy on the lemon juice and cayenne.  Then add as much as you can stand and you will have approximately the genuine article.

Pg. 52:
Soup Pork Soup
Dom Yam Mu
(...)
Sour Beef Soup
Dom Yam Nua

Pg. 55:
Galloping Horses
Ma Ho
   Here is a delicious orange salad.
(Ma Ho?--ed.)


JOYS AND SUBTLETIES:
SOUTH EAST ASIAN COOKING
by Rosemary Brissenden
NY: Pantheon Books (Random House)
1970, 1971

Pg. 222:  Soups
There are two main types of soup eaten regularly in Thailand: Tom Yam and Kaeng Chud.  The former is the more native, consisting of one kind of meat only, spiced in a characteristic fashion and cooked into a broth.  Kaeng Chud is very different from this, being derived from the Chinese form.  It is made without many spices and is mostly composed of one or two meats and some vegetable.  The Thai addition to Kaeng Chud is coriander root,  Mixed with the original garlic, this creates a unique taste and smell, and makes unnecessary the usual Chinese accompaniments of soya sauce or salted vegetables (tang chai).  Thai soupd should be served with rice and other dishes, as elsewhere in South East Asia.
   If you have one, serve Tom Yams in a Chinese Steamboat.  This is a brass pot with a vent through the middle with a grate in which hot charcoal is placed.  The liquid cooks and is kept hot in a sort of moat around the vent.

   TOM YAM KUNG (Shrimp, Crayfish or Lobster Tom Yam)

1 1/2 lbs. raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 or 2 stalks lemon grass
2 teaspoons laos powder _or_ 3 slices fresh laos
3-5 chillies (preferably "birdseye" chillies), according to taste
4 cups water
about 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce, according to taste
1 tablespoon nam prik pao (see p. 242) _or_ 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
3 lime leaves or citrus leaves

Cut the lemon grass into about 1 1/2-inch pieces and smash the pieces with the side of a heavy knife or cleaver to let the aroma come out.  Bring the water, lemon grass and laos to the boil and simmer gently for a while to allow the flavour of the spices to (Pg. 223--ed) infuse.  Add the fish sauce, then the shrimp and the chillies, which have been bruised but not chopped (unless they are long ones, in which case they can have been sliced in rounds).  When the shrimp have turned pink, remove the saucepan from the stove, and stir in the Nam Prik Pao or lemon juice.  Pour the soup into a tureen, and scatter the torn citrus leaves over the top.  Serve some lemon or lime juice separately in a small jug for guests to help themselves.  This is the "pure" version of Tom Yam Kung.
   When the Nam Prik Pao has been added to this Tom Yam it is sometimes turned into a sort of Thai minestra with the addition of fresh mushrooms. quartered tomatoes and chopped Chinese cabbage or chopped green onions.  Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and fried garlic.

   PLA TOM YAM (Fish Tom Yam)
(...)

(Unfortunately nothing much on Thai cuisine in the LOS ANGELES TIMES through the end of 1962.  It should come soon--ed.)