Fiery shrimp soup Lombok style

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 5 large prawns, fresh or frozen
• 3 tbsp peanut oil
• Lemon leaves, fresh or frozen
• 20 g coriander with roots, fresh
• 4 small onions, red
• 2 medium-sized garlic cloves, fresh
• 1 small red chili pepper(s) (Cabe Rawit Merah)
• 3 small chili peppers (Cabe Rawit Hijau), green
• 20 g galangal, fresh
• 10 g fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 300 g mineral water
• 6 tbsp fish sauce (Kecap Ikan Muda), light
• 2 tbsp honey
• 4 g chicken broth, granulated
• Honey to taste
• Fish sauce, light, to taste
• 2 mushrooms (Tongku mushrooms), dried
• 50 g carrot(s)
• 1 tomato(s), fully ripe
• 1 shallot(s), green
• 1 tbsp liquor (arak)
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• Coriander leaves, fresh
• flowers
• leaves

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 55 minutes

Sup udang satan dengan sayuran; Recipe from Lombok, Indonesia

Thaw the shrimp, otherwise rinse. Prepare a shallow dish (terrine). Remove the tough middle part of four of the lemon leaves and chop finely. Wash the coriander, strip off the leaves and finely chop the roots. Peel and quarter the onions and garlic. Remove the stems from the chili, cut them open lengthwise, remove the seeds, and cut into 5 mm pieces. Wash and peel the galangal and ginger, then cut into small cubes. Peel the tomatoes, halve them, remove the green stem end, and cut the tomato halves lengthwise again. Wash the tongku mushrooms and soak them in 100 ml of the mineral water. Remove the tough stems and cut the caps into thumbnail-sized pieces. Wash the green shallots and cut them into 5 mm wide rings. Peel and slice the carrots. Combine all the liquid ingredients, from the lemon juice to the chicken stock, in a saucepan and heat slightly to dissolve the chicken stock. Heat a medium-sized pan. Add the peanut oil, swirl the pan, and when the oil is hot enough and bubbles form at the bottom of the pan, add the finely chopped ingredients, from onions to ginger, and the coriander roots, and roast until the onions begin to brown. Deglaze with the mushroom soaking water and the chicken stock, simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Strain into a saucepan, reserving only the stock. Season with honey and light fish sauce. Add the garnish ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Let the soup cool slightly. Add the shrimp and lime leaves. Return to the heat slowly, but do not boil! When the shrimp turn pink, remove them from the soup immediately. Heat the soup a little longer, add the arak and sesame oil, stir, and immediately transfer to the terrine. Hang the shrimp crosswise on the side. Sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves, garnish with flowers and leaves, and serve immediately. Serve with rice (nasi putih). Note: The shrimp are only added to the soup at the beginning of the meal. The idea behind this is to ensure the shrimp remain juicy and crisp, rather than the dry, straw-like texture they become when boiled or overheated. Try it! You’ll be amazed at how good shrimp can taste. Indonesians generally add a few tablespoons of rice to the soup and then eat it with the ingredients. The four or five shrimp are usually eaten toward the end of the meal. This brown, but almost clear soup, made according to the original recipe, was so spicy that it required four more tablespoons of honey to make it edible. I’ve toned it down a bit in this recipe. If you prefer it less spicy, omit the red chili. The literal translation for this soup: Devilish Shrimp Soup with Vegetables. Well, that’s only for tourists – the locals are conservative, and what comes from the devil or is for him can’t be good…