VIETNAMESE PRAWN PHO

Vietnamese Prawn Pho image

Provided by mrmatty

Time 40m

Yield Serves 2

Number Of Ingredients 13

4 birdseye chillis, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 stick of lemongrass, cracked with the side of a knife
2cm piece of ginger, squashed slightly
4 spring onions, trimmed and sliced diagonally
600 mls of fish or vegetable stock
3 tbsp of nam plah (asian fish sauce)
Handful of coriander leaves
Handful of mint leaves
150g cooked king prawns
150g rice noodles
100g bean sprouts
1 lime, cut into wedges

Steps:

Pour the stock into a medium size pan, add the lemongrass, garlic, ginger and two of the chillis and briskly boil for about 15 minutes to create the basic broth. Taste it and if neccessary add the other two chillis. Turn down the heat, cover the pan and leave to simmer for a further 15 minutes. This will allow the flavours to really develop.
Add the prawns to the soup, and add three of the spring onions, the fish sauce and the herbs. Reserve a little of each herb for garnishing. Put the lid back on the pan, and leave it whilst you carry out step 3.
In a pan of boiling water, cook the beansprouts for 1-2 minutes, or until they are just tender. Drain them and add them to the soup. Place the rice noodles in the boiling water and cook for 4-5 minutes (or less if using straight-to-wok noodles). Remove the lemongrass, ginger and garlic from the soup.
Divide the cooked noodles between two deep bowls. Pour the soup over the noodles. Garnish with a little of the coriander and mint leaves, a few slices of red chilli and spring onion. Serve with a wedge of lime.