Culture Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol said the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (IGC-ICH) of the UNESCO resolved to include Tom Yum Kung in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The resolution was reached in Asuncion, Paraguay, at 4:10pm yesterday (Dec 3) local time, or 2:10am today Thailand time, reports the Bangkok Post.
Four of Thailand’s cultural heritages have already been listed as humanity’s intangible cultural heritages namely Khon mask dance, Nora dance, Thai massage and the Songkran festival.
“Tom Yum Kung reflects the lifestyle of Thai people… It is a dish of people in riverside agricultural communities in the Central Plain. Its ingredients come from local resources and local people turn them into healthy food,” Minister Sudawan said.
To make Tom Yum Kung, prawns are cooked in boiled water mixed with herbal vegetables that locals grow at home like galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, she said.
“The soup’s lead taste is sour from lime, followed by salty flavour from salt or fish sauce, spicy taste from chilli, sweetness from prawn and little bitterness from the herbs,” the minister said.
“Tom Yum Kung is an internationally popular dish and an important soft power food item of Thailand,” she said.