Char sui pork and prawn noodle soup

Noodle soup is classic Bangkok street food. Here, I've made it with prawn balls and barbecue pork.

Credit: Wok Vs Pot with Marion and Silvia

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 6 cups chicken stock
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly bruised
• 4 cm piece ginger, sliced and lightly bruised
• 300 g pork ribs, cut into individual ribs
• 4 whole star anise
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 400 g  fresh Chinese egg noodles (or your noodle of choice)
• 100 g choy sum or other Asian greens, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 200 g Chinese BBQ char siu pork (store-bought or homemade), thinly sliced
• fish sauce to serve (to taste)
• chilli powder to serve, optional
• sliced red chilli to serve, optional

Prawn balls

• 300 g (8 oz) peeled and deveined prawns (shrimp), finely chopped
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)

Instructions

1. Place the chicken stock in a large saucepan. Add the garlic, ginger, pork ribs, star anise, soy sauce and salt. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and gently simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the stock and reserve until ready to cook the prawn balls.

2. In the meantime, make the prawn balls. Place the prawns, sesame oil, salt, water and corn flour in the bowl of a food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.

3. Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to the boil (this is for your noodles and greens a bit later).

4. To form the prawn balls, place the stock back onto a medium-high and wait for it to start simmering again. Drop teaspoonfuls of the prawn mixture into the simmering stock and cook for 2-3 minutes or until cooked through.

5. In the meantime, cook your fresh noodles for 2-3 minutes or until just tender. Add the greens and cook for a further 30 seconds. Then use tongs or a slotted spoon to drain and transfer noodles and greens to individual serving bowls.

6. Divide sliced BBQ pork among the serving bowls. Scoop out some prawn balls into the bowls. Then ladle over the hot stock. Serve with fish sauce, chilli powder and sliced chilli so each person can season their bowl to taste.

Cook along with your favourite TV chefs in Dishing It Up

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.