Coconut broth with pork & prawn balls

There is something very comforting about soft, steamed meatballs in a bowl of soup. These steam incredibly quickly but won’t suffer at all if you cook them for longer (see Catherine’s tip, below), which gives you a lot of flexibility about adding other vegetables. I like to keep it simple and just throw in some greens and serve with a little rice.

SERVES 4 FOR THE MEATBALLS

• 350g minced pork

• 150g minced raw prawns

• 30g coriander including stems, finely chopped

• Zest 1 lime

• 2 green chillies, finely chopped

• 1 egg

• 30g plain flour

FOR THE BROTH

• 2 lemongrass stalks

• Strip of lime zest

• 6 garlic cloves

• 25g ginger, roughly chopped

• 1tsp coconut oil

• Heads and shells from the prawns, optional

• 500ml fish, chicken or vegetable stock

• 2tbsp fish sauce

• 1tsp palm sugar or light brown soft sugar

• Juice 1 lime

• 400ml coconut milk

• 1 Chinese cabbage or other greens, cut into wedges

TO SERVE, OPTIONAL

• Cooked sticky rice, spring onions or garlic chives, a handful of mint and coriander leaves, hot sauce, chilli flakes or sliced chillies

1 First make the meatballs. Put all the ingredients in a bowl, along with plenty

of salt and pepper, and mix thoroughly. The mixture will feel quite wet to start with – mix until it starts to feel firmer, then cover and put in the fridge to chill and to let the flavours meld a bit. Leave for as long as you can – at least 1hr, or overnight if possible.

2 Next make the broth. Put the lemongrass, lime zest, garlic and ginger into a small food processor and pulse to a very rough purée – you can just finely chop everything if you prefer. If using the prawn carcasses, heat the coconut oil in your pressure cooker and add the carcasses. Fry for a min or two, until they have turned pink and start to smell sweet and toasted. Add the paste and stir for another min or two, then pour in the stock. Bring up to high pressure and cook for 1min, then remove from the heat and allow to drop pressure naturally.

3 Strain the broth and return to the pressure cooker, discarding all the solids. Add the fish sauce, sugar and lime juice, along with the coconut milk. Put on low heat so any solids in the coconut milk can dissolve. Taste and season with salt, pepper and a little more fish sauce if necessary.

4 Form the pork mixture into meatballs, around 30g each. Add these to the pressure cooker and lay greens on top. Bring up to high pressure and cook for 1min. Allow to drop pressure naturally. Serve with sticky rice and with as many of the garnishes as you like.