This easy vegan Tom Yum soup is sweet, spicy, sour, super comforting and loaded with vegetables, crispy puffed tofu, and chewy vermicelli rice noodles. It is the easiest ever version especially when you don't have access to some of the fresh ingredients that are crucial in Thai cuisine. Tom Yum soup, as one of the most famous and iconic Thai dishes, probably needs little introduction. It's vibrant, hearty, comforting, packed full of flavors and nutrition. Did you know what Tom and Yum actually mean though? Tom, means to boil in Thai and Yum, means the process of mixing to achieve the flavor profile of sweet, sour, and spicy. The holy trinity in Tom Yum soup is lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, and galangal, these three ingredients are absolutely crucial to an authentic and flavorful Tom Yum soup together with Thai chili pepper and lime juice. However, I live in the US and surprise surprise, I couldn't possibly find any of the three ingredients at my regular grocery store and