I was invited to present a dish on the Expresso Breakfast show to celebrate the Thai New Year. I am no expert - the cuisine does not form part of my cultural heritage. But, I have been cooking and eating Thai food since my late teens. I decided to prepare a Tom Yum soup, ideal for this drastic change of weather in Cape Town. That lovely balance between sour and hot. Nourishing but not fattening. Flu-blitzing but moreish. Tom Yum soup, that Thai classic -you can control the heat and the zing as you choose. I often use a sachet of Tom Yum paste but enhance the flavour with fresh limes, chilli, lemon grass, dried lime leaves and a little palm sugar.