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Prawn consommé with a hint of the Orient
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 by Rick Stein
A light and delicate starter ideal for Christmas Day
Serves 8
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 Preparation time: 3 hours
Ingredients
250g monkfish fillet
40g baby spinach leaves
1 large red finger chili, very thinly sliced
For the stock
450g chicken drumsticks or wings, roughly chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 leeks, sliced
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, sliced
1 tbsp vegetable oil
12 raw whole tiger prawns
175g North Atlantic cooked prawns, roughly chopped
2–4 tablespoons light soy sauce
4 egg whites and 4 egg shells, crushed
2–4 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
Method
1. For the stock, put the first 7 listed ingredients in a large stockpot with 2.5 litres water and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
2. Meanwhile peel the raw prawns reserving the heads and shells. Cover the prawns and chill until required.
3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the raw prawn heads and shells with the chopped cooked prawns (and any white fish bones you have managed to get) over a medium-high heat for 3–4 minutes. Add 2 tbsp of the soy sauce and cook for a further minute.
4. Spoon a little of the chicken stock into the pan to deglaze then add all the contents of the pan to the chicken stockpot and simmer uncovered for a further 45 minutes.
5. Leave to cool then strain through a colander and then a fine sieve. Add more soy sauce at this stage to give a good golden colour, if necessary. Stir in the fish sauce to taste and return to the cleaned stockpot.
6. At this stage you will have a cloudy broth which needs to be cleared. To do this whisk the egg whites lightly then add to the broth with the crushed egg shells. Set over gentle heat and using a balloon whisk, whisk continuously to form a foam while the broth warms. Stop whisking and allow the broth to just come to a simmer and the foam to rise in the pan. Switch off the heat and leave to settle for 5 minutes.
7. Line a large sieve set over a bowl with muslin. Push the foam to one side of the pan and carefully spoon the broth into the sieve allowing it to drip through. Leave to cool and then cover and chill until required.
8. When ready to serve, warm the broth gently in a large saucepan and warm the soup plates. While the broth is warming, halve the raw prawns and remove the thin line of intestine from each one. Cut the monkfish into 16 thin slices.
9. Put a couple of ladlefuls of stock into a small saucepan and add the fish, prawns and spinach leaves to the warm stock and poach them for 30–60 seconds just until the fish loses its translucency.
10. Divide between the soup plates topping up with clear stock from the large pan then sprinkle each portion with a little chili. Serve at once.
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