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Hot and sour seafood soup
Serves 4-6 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 300g shell-on whole prawns
- 550g haddock fillet, skinned and cut into 3cm pieces
- 5tbsp fish sauce
- 1tbsp sunflower oil
- 140g banana shallots, finely chopped
- 2 lemongrass, trimmed and bruised
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 1tsp red chilli flakes (with seeds)
- 2tsp coconut palm sugar
- 1 x 400g can peeled plum tomatoes
- 250ml carton coconut cream
- 500ml good-quality fish stock
- juice 2 limes
- 500g cooked rope-grown mussels (vacuum packed or cooked sous vide)
- good handful coriander leaves
Method
Remove the heads and body shell from the prawns, without discarding them, leaving the tail shell intact. Devein the prawns, rinse under a cold tap and set aside.
Put the heads and shells in a small pan, just cover with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes to make a stock. Strain the liquid into a bowl and discard the solids. Set aside.
Put the fish in a dish or shallow bowl, pour 2tbsp of the fish sauce over and leave for 30 minutes to marinate. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan, add the shallots and lemongrass and sauté on a low heat for around 5 minutes until softened but not coloured.
Add the garlic, chilli flakes and sugar to the pan and stir well. Strain the tomatoes over the pan, half-fill the can with water and swirl it into the pan to rinse out the remaining juices. Crush the tomatoes with your hands and add to the pan.
Cook for a few minutes, then add the coconut cream, fish stock, the prawn stock and the remaining fish sauce. Simmer gently for around 10 minutes, then add the lime juice and simmer for 5 minutes.
Drain the mussels into a bowl to catch the juices and carefully pour the juice into the pan, leaving any grit in the bowl. Let the soup come back to a gentle simmer, then fish out the lemongrass stems and add the fish pieces and the prawns. When the prawns turn pink, add the mussels and turn in the mixture to heat them through. Toss in the coriander leaves and serve right away.
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