Hot and Sour Soup

Serves 4-6
Ingredients

1½ litres chicken stock
2 heaped tbsp tom yam paste
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
1 stick lemon grass, tender inner part only, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lime
4 tbsp fish sauce
3 small fresh red or green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp sugar
150g straw or button mushrooms, halved or quartered according to size
500g peeled raw prawns, thawed if frozen
5 small spring onions, cut into short lengths and then into strips
Small bunch coriander, chopped

1. Heat the stock and tom yam paste in a decent sized saucepan with the lime leaves, lemon grass, lime juice, fish sauce, chillies and sugar.

2. Bring to the boil, add the mushrooms and simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the prawns and spring onions and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, or until the prawns are cooked but still tender. Sprinkle with a little coriander and put more on the table for people to add themselves as they want.

Prawn Spring Rolls

Preparation time: 50 minutes
Total cooking time: 4 minutes

Makes about 18

Difficulty: Medium

50g (1¾oz) rice vermicelli
2 spring onions
1 cucumber, peeled
1 carrot
24 cooked prawns, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
2 Chinese mushrooms, soaked, chopped finely
½ lettuce, finely shredded
½ cup (25g/¾oz) chopped fresh mint
50g (1¾oz) bean sprouts
375g (12oz) rice paper rounds, 21cm (8½ inch) diameter

Dipping sauce:
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon rice vinegar or white vinegar
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 small red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed

1. Put the vermicelli in a large bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for 1-2 minutes, or until soft. Rinse under cold water, drain, chop roughly with scissors and put in a bowl.

2. Very finely shred the spring onions, cucumber and carrot into 5cm (2 inch) strips. Blanch the carrot for 1 minute, drain and cool. Add the carrot, spring onion and cucumber to the cooled vermicelli with the prawns, peanuts, mushrooms, lettuce, mint and sprouts. Toss until the mixture is well combined.

3. For each spring roll, soften a rice paper in a bowl of warm water for 10-20 seconds. Lay it on a tea towel and place 3 tablespoons of filling in the centre. Fold in the sides and roll up into a parcel. Seal the edges by brushing with a little water. Place on a serving platter and cover with a damp cloth while you make the rest.

4. To make the dipping sauce, combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons warm water in a small bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Serve with the spring rolls.

Nutrition per spring roll:
Protein 5g; Fat 1g; Carbohydrate 9g; Dietary Fibre 1g; Cholesterol 25mg; 265kJ (65kcal)

Prawn Toast

Preparation time: 20 mins
Total cooking time: 15 minutes

Makes 36

Difficulty: Easy

350g (11oz) raw medium prawns
1 clove garlic
75g (2½oz) canned water chestnuts, drained
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
2cm x 2cm piece of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
2 eggs, separated
¼ teaspoon white pepper
12 slices white bread, crusts removed
1 cup (155g/5oz) sesame seeds
Oil, for deep frying

Dipping sauce

½ cup (125ml/4 fl oz) tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 small fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1. To make the dipping sauce, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Peel the prawns and gently pull out the dark vein from each prawn back, starting at the head end. Put the prawns in a food processor with the garlic, water chestnuts, coriander, ginger, egg whites, pepper and ¼ teaspoon salt, and process for 20-30 seconds, until smooth.

3. Brush the top of each slice of bread with lightly beaten egg yolk, then spread evenly with the prawn mixture. Sprinkly generously with sesame seeds. Cut each slice of bread into three even strips.

4. Fill a large heavy-based saucepan or deep-fryer one-third full of oil and heat to 180°C (350°F), or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 15 seconds. Deep-fry the toasts in small batches for 10-15 seconds, or until golden and crisp. Start with the prawn mixture facing down, then turn halfway through. Remove the toasts from the oil with tongs or a slotted spoon and drain on crumpled paper towels. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Nutrition per prawn toast

Protein 3g; Fat 6.5g; Carbohydrate 5.5g; Dietary Fibre 1g; Cholesterol 19mg; 383kJ (92kcal)