Vietnamese Prawn, Pea & Pea Shoot Soup | Recipe

This fresh and zesty Vietnamese noodle soup is packed with flavour from the chillies and lime leaves and makes a perfect quick and easy lunch.

Ingredients

350g dried rice stick noodles
1.25 litres chicken stock
1 small onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 red bird’s eye chillies, pounded
6 kaffir lime leaves, pounded
2.5cm piece fresh galangal, sliced and bruised
2 lemon grass stalks, trimmed and bruised
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon grated palm sugar
2 celery sticks, sliced
2 tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and diced
500g (about 50) raw prawns, peeled and deveined
150g peas
a handful of pea shoots
a handful of fresh herbs, such as perilla leaves and coriander

Method

Soak the noodles in a bowlful of hot water for 20–30 minutes until softened. Drain well, shake dry and set aside.

Put the stock, onion, garlic, chillies, lime leaves, galangal and lemon grass in a saucepan set over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 10 minutes until the soup is fragrant, then strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan.

Stir in the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar, and set over a medium heat. Add the celery and tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the prawns and peas, and simmer for a further 2–3 minutes, until the prawns are just cooked through.

Divide the noodles between bowls and pour over the soup. Serve topped with pea shoots and herbs.

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