
This Nigella recipe is taken from her popular Channel 4 series Nigella Bites, based on her popular book How To Eat.
I know that for some people, nothing feels more restoring than something warm and unchallengingly bland. But when it's succour and sustenance I need, it's spice that I want.
This soup, tom yam-the culinary equivalent of Friar's Balsam, clears the tubes and brings fire to the jaded soul. And there's nothing like a bit of searing heat to push away any hungover seediness. It's good for those days when you're thick with cold, too.
It's easy to throw together, as well: the chicken stock I make out of boiling water and bouillon concentrate, and the tom yam paste is sold now at most supermarkets, along with the other ingredients, too.
1.Heat the stock and tom yam paste in a decent sized saucepan with the lime leaves, lemon grass, lime-juice, fish sauce, chillies and sugar.
2.Bring to the boil, add the mushrooms and simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the prawns and spring onions and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, or until the prawns are cooked but still tender. Sprinkle with a little coriander and put more on the table for people to add themselves as they want.
© Nigella Lawson, How To Eat, The pleasures and principles of good food - Chatto & Windus, 1998
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