Many moons ago, after making my delicious paella, I used the mussel and prawn shells to make a shellfish stock which had been sitting in my freezer for a while waiting to be used. I didn’t want to use it for another rice dish, so came up with an alternative using noodles, which I very rarely cook with.

This broth is super light, but it certainly isn’t watery; I also refuse to call it a soup, as there’s so much more going on. It’s a bit of a spicy one, but of course you can play around with the ingredients to make it milder if you prefer; I however, love the kick.

I topped my noodle broth with some dumplings that I can’t claim as my own – I actually followed a recipe from Rick Stein’s Road to Mexico, but I definitely recommend seafoody-style dumplings as an ideal topping, as they add different textures to the dish, along with even more flavour. If you don’t want to go to the effort of making dumplings, other seafood such as prawns would also work really well, and as for the veg, you can mix and match as you like. I love steamed pak choi, but if I’d had some bean sprouts I definitely would’ve added those to.

This is a pretty straightforward recipe, but in order for it to really work, a stick blender is highly recommended, as otherwise you end up with little chunks of onion and chilli floating around, and although that doesn’t affect the flavour, you don’t get a lovely smooth texture. Stick blenders are so worth buying though, especially if you’re a fan of making soups and broths at home.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

chunk of ginger

1 red chilli

small handful of cherry tomatoes

2tsp fish sauce

1tbsp rice wine vinegar

shellfish stock (or fish stock if you don’t have shellfish)

1 400ml tin coconut milk

2tsp sweet paprika

2tbsp sriracha

2tsp miso paste (dark)

bunch of coriander

2 nests of noodles (I used wholewheat)

1 spring onion

paprika flakes

chilli oil

optional toppings, i.e. dumplings, pak choi, bean sprouts, prawns, baby corn

1. Heat the onion to sweat, and then add the garlic.
2. Add the chopped or grated ginger, chilli and tomatoes and cook for 5 mins on a medium heat, stirring occasionally (turn down heat if they start to burn or catch on the bottom).
3. Add the fish sauce and rice wine vinegar and cook for a further 5 mins.
4. Pour in the shellfish stock, coconut milk, sriracha, miso paste and paprika, sprinkle in some chopped coriander and leave on a low-medium heat for 15-20 mins for all the flavours to soak each other up.
5. Meanwhile cook your noodles and any toppings, i.e. steam the pak choi. NB. You could cook the noodles in the broth later on after it’s been blended if you prefer.
6. Use a stick blender to blend the broth to a smooth, slightly creamy consistency.
7. Add the noodles and top with whichever seafood or vegetables you’ve chosen
8. Finish with a sprinkling of paprika flakes and spring onions, and a drizzle of chilli oil.

I love the colours in the finished dish – the bright, glossy orange, with the deep red paprika flakes and the contrasting fresh green from the veg. Although not based on any specific dish, this recipe is strongly Asian-influenced – I realise what a broad, sweeping statement that is – but I love how broth-style meals are such a staple in places like Vietnam (Pho), Malaysia (Laksa) and Japan (Ramen). They’re all so different both in terms of flavour and consistency, but what they have in common is the ability to demonstrate just how punchy, comforting and delicious, all at the same time, soup-like meals can be.

¡Comemos!

xo