Rainy days and prawn soup

It's been raining quite a bit in Sydney - and unfortunately Sydney, or maybe Australia in general isn't really well equipped for rain. There aren't pubs with warm fires to cosy up to or warm grog to drink. NY, Japan - these other places seem to lend themselves to some sort of winter entertainment - here girls are still hitting the cross in mini skirts.

We were at the fish shops thinking about making mussels but they were all out. I caught sight of some fresh green king prawns with heads still attached. I remember my dad has always said that when it comes to seafood, the heads are the sweetest part of a crustacean. Being cold and rainy, I thought it would be the perfect time to try and make a warming seafood soup.

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Ingredients:
500 g green prawns, unpeeled with heads attached
1 large ling fillet, cut into pieces
250 mL fish stock
1 cup white wine
water, as needed
1 tin diced tomatoes
4 cloves garlic - peeled crushed
2 small garlic shoots
1 red onion chopped
1 tbs grated ginger
1/2 red capsicum chopped
150 g enoki mushrooms
1 tomato diced
1 bay leaf
1 small tin sardines in olive oil - DO NOT STRAIN
salt to taste
coriander to taste

Method:

In a large pot, add the fish stock and garlic and bring to boil.

Separate the prawn heads from the bodies. Leave the bodies to shell and devein later, add the prawn heads to your stock and bring to boil. Add onions, tin tomaties, garlic shoots, bay leaf, ginger, white wine and oil from the tin of sardines. (I served the sardines as finger food with some red capsicum dip and water thins). Allow to simmer for 30 minutes, adding water and liquid as needed. You can shell and devein your prawns and prepare your other ingredients during this time.

Remove the soup stock from the heat and strain. Return liquid to stove over a medium flame and add diced fresh tomatoes, capsicum and enoki mushrooms. Let simmer for 5 minutes or until capsicum is soft. Add ling pieces and prawns and continue to simmer until fish and prawn meat are cooked through (2-3 minutes). Serve with coriander and salt to taste.

For an extra bit of kick - add a few slices of fresh ginger to the strained soup. I would also consider sauteeing the prawns separately in garlic and serving over the soup instead of cooking it in the stock.