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Prawn and noodle broth with sesame prawn toasts
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 750g fresh shell-on prawns
- 16cm x 8cm piece dried kombu
- 3tbsp bonito flakes
- 750ml good-quality shellfish or fish stock
- 2tbsp white miso
- 1tsp cornflour
- 3tbsp white sesame seeds, lightly toasted and finely ground
- 1tbsp sunflower oil
- 2tsp sesame oil
- 125g sugar snaps, halved lengthways
- 150g shimeji, oyster or mixed mushrooms
- 100g podded edamame beans
- 200g pak choi or choi sum root, trimmed and separated into leaves
- 250g dried udon or ramen noodles, cooked
- light soy sauce to taste
For the prawn toasts
- 1cm piece fresh ginger, peeled finely grated
- 1 egg white
- 1tsp soy sauce
- 1/4tsp freshly ground white pepper
- 1/2tsp sea salt flakes, crushed
- 3 spring onions, finely chopped (to make 4tbsp when chopped)
- 4 slices good quality white bread
- 8tbsp white sesame seeds or 4tbsp each black and white
- sunflower oil for frying
Method
Peel the prawns, leaving the tail shell of 12 of them intact, and reserving all the shells and heads. Put the peeled prawns in the fridge, keeping those with tails for serving and the fully peeled ones (approx. 200g) for the prawn toasts.
Put all the heads and shells in a large pan with 1.5 litres cold water. Add the kombu and bonito flakes to the pan and bring to a fast boil, then lower the heat. Put a lid on to half cover the pan and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Turn the heat off, put the lid on completely and leave for 10 minutes. Remove the kombu, then put the pan back on the heat to simmer for a further 5 minutes. Strain the broth through a sieve set over a bowl. Discard the shells, then pour the broth back into the pan and add the stock.
Put the miso in a mini processor with the cornflour, ground toasted sesame seeds, the oils and 3tbsp of the broth. Whizz to a paste and add a little more of the broth to loosen it. Stir into the broth in the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Check for seasoning and add sea salt flakes to taste. Turn off the heat.
To prepare the prawn toasts, put the reserved (peeled) prawns in a processor with the ginger, egg white, soy sauce, pepper and salt and blitz to a paste. Stir in the spring onions.
If you like, cut the crusts off the bread (use them to make into crumbs and keep in the freezer for another recipe) and cut each slice into 4 triangles.
Spread equal amounts of prawn mixture on to each triangle. Scatter the sesame seeds in an even layer on a large tray or, if using black as well, make even lines of both colours to create stripes. Dip the prawn- side of each bread triangle into the seeds to thickly and evenly coat. Transfer to the fridge if not serving immediately.
When ready to serve, heat
5mm oil in a frying pan and fry
the toasts, in batches, prawn-
side up, for 1-2 minutes until
golden. Flip them over and
fry the prawn side for around 2 minutes or until the sesame
seeds are golden. Remove and
drain on kitchen paper.
Put the broth back on to the heat and bring to a simmer. Add all of the prepared vegetables followed by the reserved peeled prawns with tail shells, then the noodles and cook for a few minutes. Serve the broth with the toasts and soy sauce to spoon over.
Cook’s note
When washing the equipment used to make the prawn mix for the toasts, first rinse thoroughly in cold water then in hot, to prevent the paste setting hard.
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