Quick Prawn Tom Yum Noodles

Ingredients

• 300 g raw king prawns, peeled, deveined
• 150 g rice vermicelli noodles
• 800 ml chicken or prawn stock
• 2 tbsp tom yum paste
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp soft brown sugar
• 150 g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
• 2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
• 3 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 1 red chilli, sliced
• 15g coriander, leaves picked
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• Pickled cucumber, to serve

Method

1. Soak the rice vermicelli in a bowl of just-boiled water for 4–5 minutes until tender and pliable, then drain well and divide between two deep bowls. They'll finish cooking in the hot broth, so pull them while they still have a little bite.
2. Bring the stock to a gentle simmer in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the bruised lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and tom yum paste and simmer for 5 minutes until the kitchen smells unmistakably of citrus and chilli — that bloom is where the paste stops tasting raw and starts tasting of itself.
3. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes until they soften and start to drink up the broth, darkening as they go.
4. Slide in the prawns and simmer for 2–3 minutes, just until they curl into loose Cs and turn pink the whole way through. Any longer and they tighten into rubber.
5. Season the broth with the fish sauce, brown sugar and lime juice, stirring the lime juice in off the heat so the acid stays bright. Taste — it should land hot, sour, salty and faintly sweet, all four corners pulling against each other. Most of the salt comes from the fish sauce and paste, but adjust with a pinch more salt or another splash of lime until it sings. Taste again before you ladle — adjust now, not at the table.
6. Ladle the broth, prawns and mushrooms generously over the noodles. Scatter the spring onions, red chilli and coriander leaves over the top, tuck a lime wedge into the side of each bowl, and bring straight to the table while the steam is still rising.