TOM YUM KUNG

Canada is a major producer, exporter and importer of an immense variety of agricultural and food products ranging from processed foods with global value chains to local, farm-based value chains.  In this section, we share 3 of our research insights and assess to what extent our recipe can be made from Canadian agricultural and food products.

         Lemongrass is one of the most common ingredients in Thai cuisine. The top 5 largest producers of lemongrass are Pakistan, United States of America, China, Germany and Philippines. Lemongrass oil is the main product that is extracted from fresh lemongrass. Oil of lemongrass has been in use for more than 50 years as a repellent against mosquitoes, biting flies and fleas. It's found in candles, lotions, gels, sprays, soaps and towelette wipes.

        Fish sauce is made from salt and fermented fish, specifically, from anchovy extract. Fish sauce is commonly used in Southeast Asia. Approximately 80% of the fermented fish was produced in Vietnam, and other major producers are the Philippines and Thailand. The serious issue of fish sauce facing by Vietnam is nearly 70 percent of fish sauce samples contained more than the legal limit of arsenic.

As one of the essential ingredients in Thai cuisine, red chili pepper provides unique spiciness for the soup. It was originated in Mexico, South America and Central America and brought to Southeast Asia in the 16^th or 17^th during the Columbian exchange (TIME,2007).  The top five largest producers for chili peppers are India, Thailand, Mainland China, Ethiopia and Pakistan(FAO,2004).

         In summary, 5 of the 10 ingredients we needed are produced in Canada, while the other 5 can be purchased without much difficulty. None of the ingredients were not available, and required us to make substitutions.