| BANGKOK, Thailand -- For years, zesty Tom Yum | | | | Jiwajindra of Kasetsart University. Research also is |
| Gung soup has been a mainstay of Thai cooking. And | | | | focusing on edible plants in the region. "The ratio of the |
| now researchers are thinking it just might have | | | | cancer pattern in Asians, especially southeast Asians, |
| cancer-fighting ingredients as well as good taste. "Tom | | | | is very low compared with the pattern in the European |
| Yum Gung is Thailand's most favorite soup," according | | | | and Western countries," Jiwajindra said. In fact, Thais |
| to Chef Rolf Schmitz of the Regent Hotel's Spice | | | | have a much lower incidence of digestive tract |
| Market restaurant. "It's a shrimp soup with herbal | | | | cancers than people do in other countries.Traditional |
| ingredients like coriander, lemon grass, lime leaves and | | | | Thai cuisine -- famed for its heavy use of herbs and |
| even galangal roots." Also called hot-and-sour soup, | | | | spices -- has long been known to have health benefits, |
| the dish often includes straw mushrooms and a variety | | | | Jiwajindra said. And despite its spicy taste, Tom Yum |
| of chilies.A recent joint study by Thailand's Kasetsart | | | | Gung continues to be popular, said Schmitz, calling the |
| University and Japan's Kyoto and Kinki Universities has | | | | soup "definitely the best seller if you look into the |
| found that the ingredients in Tom Yum Gung soup are | | | | statistics." Every month, the soup is "at the top of the |
| 100 times more effective in inhibiting cancerous tumor | | | | charts," he added. "A day, I'd say we are making 50-60 |
| growth than other foods. Scientists are seeking to | | | | cups in a restaurant like the Spice Market," said the |
| extract the chemical compounds that are most | | | | chef. |
| effective from soup ingredients, said Suratwadee | | | | |