Spicy and colorful noodle soup with shrimp balls and mushrooms

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 8 shrimp balls, fresh or frozen, (see notes)
• 4 m.-sized shiitake mushroom(s), dried
• 100 g water
• 2 g chicken broth, granulated
• 40 g carrot(s)
• 1 small pak choi (mustard greens)
• 8 green beans
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 stalk(s) lemongrass
• 2 m.-large tomato(s), fully ripe
• 15 g ginger, fresh or frozen
• 2 m.-sized garlic cloves, fresh
• 1 spring onion(s), white part only
• 1 small chili pepper(s), red
• 2 Pepper, red, long, mild
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp, leveled mace powder (alternatively nutmeg)
• ½ tsp coriander powder
• Liquid (soaking broth from the mushrooms)
• 5 g shrimp paste (Indonesia, Terasi)
• 5 small onions, red
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 500 g coconut water
• 3 tbsp sweet and sour hot sauce, Thai style No. 3
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce (saus tiram)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (kecap ikan)
• 60 g corn noodles, alternatively glass noodles
• e.g. celery leaves, fresh or frozen

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

A spicy soup with red broth. Recipe from Lombok, Indonesia. Original title: Bakso Udang Istimewa dengan Jamur.

Count the fresh shrimp balls and quarter them. Thaw and quarter any frozen shrimp. For the mushrooms, heat the water, dissolve the chicken stock in it, and pour the stock over the shiitake mushrooms. Soak for 30 minutes. Squeeze the chicken stock out of the mushrooms and reserve the entire soaking stock. Cut the mushroom caps into thumbnail-sized pieces. Discard the tough stems. Wash all the vegetables. Peel the carrot and slice it into approximately 3 mm thick slices using a corrugated grater. Remove the leaves from the bok choy head and cut the white part crosswise into approximately 1 cm wide pieces. Cut the green part into thirds lengthwise and cut crosswise into approximately 1 cm wide strips. Keep them separate. Trim both ends of the green beans and chop them crosswise into approximately 4 cm long pieces. Wash the fresh lemongrass, remove the tough stalk at the bottom, discard any brown or wilted leaves, and use only the white to light green parts. Cut these into approximately 8 cm long pieces. Remove the outer, green leaves if desired. Gently crush the bottom half of the pieces with a hammer, leaving the stem intact. Soak the corn noodles in plenty of lukewarm water for 5 minutes, drain, and set aside. For the puree, remove the stalks from the tomatoes, quarter them lengthwise, remove the green stalks, and cut them into thirds crosswise. Wash, peel, and thinly slice the ginger. Defrost frozen goods. Trim both ends of the garlic cloves, peel them, and halve them lengthwise and crosswise. Diagonally slice the white part of the spring onions into approximately 3 cm wide pieces. Cut the small, red chili into thirds crosswise, leaving the seeds and discarding the stalk. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high for 1 minute until smooth. For the broth, finely crumble or chop the shrimp paste. Trim both ends of the small red onions, peel them, and cut them into small pieces. Heat a small pan, add the sunflower oil, and let it heat up. Roast the onions and shrimp paste until the onions begin to brown. Deglaze with a little of the coconut water and transfer everything to a casserole dish. Add the remaining ingredients to the broth, along with the blender puree and the lemongrass, and bring to a boil. Simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the sunflower oil in a medium-sized frying pan. Add the shrimp balls, shiitake mushrooms, carrot pieces, and green beans, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the pak choi and stir-fry for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Add the slightly chopped corn noodles to the simmering broth and simmer for 2 minutes. Season the broth with salt to taste. Divide the contents of the pan between two serving bowls and pour the broth over the meatballs. Garnish with the dressing and serve hot. Note: If you can’t buy shrimp balls, make them yourself and freeze a batch. URL for the “Shrimp Balls”: http://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/3643151548411591/Wuerzig-exotische-Garnelenbaellchen.html