Sometimes when I wake up, I get this overwhelming craving for something warm, soupy and bursting with flavour. Something that I would eat while still in bed, wrapped up in my sheets, even though this might sound somewhat ridiculous in Singapore's heat. This was when I chanced upon a recipe from Season 2 of Junior Masterchef Australia. The moment I saw that dish getting plated up for the judges, I knew I had to make it.
Large prawns terrify me. I only calm down after I removed their heads. Somehow I have this wild idea at the back of my mind that large prawns with their heads on are more capable of coming back to life.
There is something oddly calming with the smell of chopped garlic on my fingers. I have this weird habit where I can't help but sniff my fingers every time I'm done chopping them up.
2 minutes into frying up the prawn heads in olive, butter and garlic, I realised that my clothes were still hanging to dry in the kitchen. Mad dash to remove them before they started to smell of prawns. Thankfully my mother did not see anything wrong with them.
And I've got to say that I was amazed by how great the prawn heads smelled when they were fried. They released so much juices that I was so tempted to grab a spoon to drink some of it. But that would mean less prawn stock for the broth.
Nice porcelain bowls like this make me feel happy.
Despite having not worked around my kitchen for quite some time, I was amazed I didn't fumble when I was cooking and the end product was so satisfying. The first mouthful had be stunned for a few seconds because the flavour of the prawns came out so beautifully in the broth, and then slowly the tangy tomato taste sat in the sort of balance out the 'seafoodiness' of the soup.
I would probably try to marinate the fish slices because the tomato based soup sort of over-powered the fish such that I couldn't really make out its sweetness. I want to try replacing the chicken stock because I couldn't find any fish stock in the supermart and I didn't have enough time on my hands to make my own. Other than that, I'm so pleased with the results and I can't wait to get my hands (and apron) dirty cooking again.
Luv,
Zhujun
