Expat Cookbook: Hot Sweet & Sour Corn & Seafood Broth

As the magical spell of autumn falls on us, there is nothing more comforting then spending a Saturday afternoon leisurely brewing up a luscious soup that does more than fill the demanding belly and warms you to your ever dainty toes…

… a broth that draws from the bountiful seas surrounding Scandinavia, the produce ever so recently harvested from Europe’s fertile lands, and the scintillating flavours seductively promised by neighbouring Asia.

Ingredients:

For the seafood stock:

140 g raw prawn shells

80 g raw fish bones

425 ml water

25 ml extra dry Vermont

1 bay leaf

1 x 0.2 g infusion bag of bouquet garni

2 cloves

¹/₅ tsp dry dill tips

Salt

Crack black pepper

For the broth:

150 g fresh squids, pigmented skin, guts, beaks & eyes removed, and thickly sliced

80 g cauliflower, cut into chunks

125 g leeks, cut into chunks

1½ x 425 g tins of whole sweet corn kernels in the tins’ juices

4 tbsp light soya sauce

5 tbsp white vinegar (add more if you like the broth more sour)

5 pinches of ground chilli (add more if you like a hotter broth)

1 egg, beaten

Fresh pea sprouts

Instructions:

For 400 ml of stock:

1. Into a stockpot, place the prawn shells, water, bouquet garni, bay leaf and cloves; bringing to a boil covered.
2. Simmer covered over a gentle flame for 30 minutes.
3. Strain out only the prawn shells, and then add fish bones, dill and Vermont.
4. Cover and bring to a boil again; simmering for another 30 minutes.
5. Strain out the fish bones and herbs.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

For 1000 ml of broth:

1. Add the leeks and cauliflower into the stock; bringing it back to the boil.
2. Boil for a further 10 minutes over a gentler flame.
3. Add the squids and ½ tin of corn kernels and juices, bringing the stock back to a boil.
4. Keep boiling until the squids are just cooked by turning an opaque white.
5. Puree the stock to a thick chunky consistency.
6. Over a medium flame, add the other whole tin of corn kernels and juices, the soya sauce, vinegar and chilli powder and bring it back to the boil.
7. Stir in the egg until you see slivers of cooked eggs running through the broth.
8. To serve, garnish each bowl of broth with pea sprouts.

Makes 2 to 3 hearty serves