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