Pork and prawn noodle soup

Ingredients

1. 275g large, raw unpeeled prawns
2. 4 tsp vegetable oil
3. 150g shallots, roughly chopped
4. 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5. 1 tbsp sambal oelek or minced red chilli from a jar
6. 1.5 litres chicken stock
7. 175g lean pork mince
8. 1 tsp Thai fish sauce
9. 1 tsp soft light brown sugar
10. 100g dried fine egg noodles
11. 100g dried rice vermicelli noodles
12. 100g fresh beansprouts
13. 75g baby spinach
14. 2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

Method

1. 1. Peel and de-vein the prawns, leaving the tail-shells on. Reserve all the heads and shells. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the shallots and three-quarters of the garlic, and fry for 5-6 minutes until richly golden. Add the prawn heads and shells, and sambal oelek, and fry for 2-3 minutes more. Add the stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. 2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the pork with the fish sauce, sugar and remaining garlic, then shape into truffle-sized balls.
3. 3. Bring a large pan of unsalted water to the boil. Add the egg noodles and cook for 2 minutes. Scoop out with a small sieve and leave to drain. Add the rice vermicelli to the pan of hot water, take the pan off the heat, leave them for 2-3 minutes until tender, then drain.
4. 4. Strain the stock through a sieve, return to the pan and bring back to a simmer. Add the pork balls and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the prawns and simmer for 1 minute until just cooked. Remove from the heat.
5. 5. Divide the noodles among bowls, then top with the beansprouts and spinach. Ladle over the soup, dividing the pork balls and prawns equally among each bowl. Top with the egg.