← Nouns Cooking · Malaysian & Singaporean

Ingredients

• 500 g medium prawns, shell on
• 500 g pork ribs or bones
• 200 g pork loin or lean belly, in one piece
• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 8 Dried chillies, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, drained
• 6 Shallot, peeled
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 2.5 l Water
• 20 g Rock sugar (yellow or white)
• 2 tsp Salt
• 400 g fresh yellow noodles
• 200 g Rice vermicelli, soaked until soft
• 150 g Water spinach (kangkung), cut into lengths
• 150 g Bean sprouts
• 4 Eggs, hard-boiled and halved
• 4 tbsp Crispy fried shallots
• 4 tbsp sambal or chilli paste, to serve

Method

1. Peel the prawns, keeping all the heads and shells; devein the prawns and chill them. Blend the chillies, shallots and garlic into a paste.
2. Blanch the pork ribs in boiling water for 5 min, then drain and rinse.
3. Heat the oil in a big pot over medium-high heat and fry the prawn heads and shells for 5 min, pressing on the heads, until bright red and very fragrant. Add the chilli paste and fry for 5 min more.
4. Add the water, ribs, pork loin, rock sugar and salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 min, lift out the pork loin (it should be cooked through), then keep the broth simmering for 1 hour more. Strain and taste for salt.
5. Poach the peeled prawns in the strained broth for 2–3 min until pink, then lift out. Slice the pork thinly.
6. For each bowl, blanch a portion of noodles, vermicelli, bean sprouts and kangkung in boiling water for 30 seconds and drain. Top with prawns, pork and egg, ladle over the hot broth and finish with fried shallots and a spoon of sambal.

Tips

• The prawn heads are the flavour: ask your fishmonger for extra, or keep a bag in the freezer from earlier meals.
• Contains shellfish, egg and wheat (noodles).

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Taste Asian Food Lin's Food