Exotic Balinese shrimp soup with fish

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 8 large shrimp, fresh or frozen
• 200 g fish fillet(s), skinless, fresh or frozen
• 12 tbsp peanut oil
• 6 lemon leaves
• 3 m.-large tomato(s), fully ripe
• 8 macadamia nuts or kemiri nuts
• 8 small onions, red
• 4 medium-sized garlic cloves
• 4 cardamom pods
• 4 pepper, red, long (cabe besar merah)
• 4 chili peppers, curly red, long, thin (cabe keriting merah)
• 2 small red chili peppers (cabe rawit merah)
• 10 g shrimp paste (terasi udang)
• 3 stalks lemongrass, fresh
• 15 g galangal, fresh
• 5 g fresh turmeric root
• 12 g fresh ginger
• 100 ml orange juice
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 250 ml mineral water
• 2 tbsp tamarind syrup
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, sweet (kecap manis)
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce (saus tiram)
• 3 tbsp light fish sauce (kecap ikan)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 8 g chicken broth, granulated
• 150 ml coconut milk, creamy
• 2 tbsp arrack
• Honey and light fish sauce to taste
• 2 tbsp coconut milk, creamy
• 2 sprigs of dill, fresh
• flowers and leaves

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 10 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 40 minutes

Recipe from Bali/Indonesia, original title: Sup udang dengan ikan Padangbai

Thaw the fish fillet and shrimp, otherwise rinse. Prepare two shallow bowls (terrines). Remove the hard middle part of four of the lemon leaves and chop finely. Peel the tomatoes, halve them, then cut out the green stems and halve the tomato halves lengthwise. Remove the seeds and cut the tomatoes lengthwise into strips and crosswise into 1 cm pieces. Quarter the macadamia nuts. Peel and quarter the onions and garlic. Wash the chili peppers and remove the green stems, halve them lengthwise and cut out the seeds and their central sheaths. Rinse any remaining seeds with water, cut the halves into strips and cut these crosswise into approximately 1 cm pieces. Remove the stems from the chili and also cut them into 1 cm pieces. Cut the shrimp paste from the block and crumble or chop it finely. Cut the hard root stem from the lemongrass and remove the brown leaves. Cut the lemongrass into very fine rings, removing any leaves that are too green. Use only the white and light green parts. Wash and peel the galangal, turmeric, and ginger, then cut into small cubes. Combine all ingredients, from orange juice to chicken broth, in a 2-liter saucepan and heat gently to dissolve the chicken broth and sugar. Heat a medium-sized pan. Add 6 tablespoons of the peanut oil, swirl the pan, and when the oil is hot enough (bubbles will form at the bottom of the pan), add the ingredients, from macadamia nuts to ginger, and roast until the onions begin to brown. Deglaze with half of the broth. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Transfer to a blender and puree on high for 1 minute, then add to the rest of the broth. Add the coconut milk and season with palm sugar and light fish sauce. Heat a small pan. Add six tablespoons of the peanut oil, swirl the pan, and when the oil is hot enough, add the tomato pieces and roast for 3 minutes over full heat. Heat the soup slowly, but do not boil, as otherwise the coconut milk will curdle. Stir gently. Add the shrimp and the finely chopped lime leaves. When the shrimp turn pink, remove from the soup. Continue heating the soup over low heat. Sear the fish fillet in the pan on both sides and cut into 8 equal pieces. Place four pieces in each of the prepared terrines, each with two lime leaves. Add two tablespoons of the tomato pieces. Divide the soup among the two terrines and place four shrimp crosswise around the edge of each. Garnish with fresh dill, the coconut milk, the remaining diced tomatoes, flowers, and leaves, and serve immediately. In Bali, this soup is served with rice (nasi putih), but the soup tastes best with fresh baguette. This makes it a complete meal.