My partner is of Malaysian heritage, and the wonderful and world famous food of Malaysian features heavily in the household repertoire. This one I knocked up after getting my hands on a fresh tuna steak for 60p (19.10pm is THE time for a scout round a Waitrose deli due to close at 21.00, btw). You can substitute the tuna for pretty much any seafood or meat (maybe except lamb). Alternatively leave out the meat and egg to make it completely vegan. For a vegan version consider substituting the shrimp paste with fermented bean paste, and fish sauce with soy. 

The soup manages to be a wonderful, hot, spicy, creamy comfort food, whilst remaining beautifully light and fresh tasting. There are a lot of ingredients, but don’t be put off. They are all pretty forgiving and the recipe can handle a bit of substitution/adaptation. This recipe cooks 2 generous portions, but you can add veg to bulk it out. 

Ingredients:

For the paste
1 onion
1/2 bulb garlic
1 thumb ginger
Chillis (to your preference – I use 3 birds eye, which has a decent kick)
1 stalk lemongrass
1 teaspoon fermented shrimp paste
handful of coriander stalks 

For the spice mix
1 teaspoon of turmeric
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
2 teaspoons curry poweder

For the broth 
1/2 can coconut milk
fish or chicken stock (optional)
Fish Sauce 
Noodles (whatever your preference)
Beansprouts
Oil (your choice – I use a combo of coconut and sesame)
Jaggary (can be substituted with dark sugar)

Optional additional veg – any combination of these wrok
Mushrooms
Baby sweetcorn
Peppers
Aubergine 

For the toppings
1 fresh tuna steak
1 egg
Coriander – handful
Spring onions, finely chopped
Mint leaves 
Lime wedges (this is an important topping as the lime juice will lift the sauce and add freshness to the soup) 

 

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients for the paste to a food processor and blitz until a paste. You may need to add a little water or oil to help lubricate the mixture. Transfer the paste to a heavy bottom pan with a generous drizzle of oil (I use coconut oil here), and slowly cook down the paste. You will want to get some rich colouration and caramalisation at this stage to help bring out the flavours, and are looking for a sticky rich base. Meanwhile pop your egg into a pan and boil for a desired length of time. Once it has boiled take it out the pan and set it aside to cool and peel later.

2. Add the spice mix to the pan and cook for a further few minutes to allow the spices to fry and release their flavour

3. If you are adding vegetables, add these now and fry for a further 3 minutes 

4. Add the coconut milk and stock (if no stock a bit of water) and mix together to form a soup. add a splash of fish sauce, jaggery, and salt to taste. You can put the remainder of the coconut milk in a reusable seal-able bag and pop it in the freezer. 

5. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the tuna steak, then fry (I use sesame oil here) or grill until it is rare in the middle (a couple of minutes on each side). Set aside to rest. Peel boiled egg and cut in half. 

6. Add beansprouts and cooked noodles to the broth

7. Serve in bowls with egg and sliced tuna placed on top. Sprinkle with fresh toppings.