After an indulgent year festive season, Ty and I decided in February to give our livers a little break and go raw for a month. It didn’t take us too long to get into the groove, and by the end of this experiment while we were feeling pretty good, we were (really) looking forward to cooking and eating something light but tasty to ease back into eating normally again.

So during week four of the raw month we were madly casually flicking through cook books for inspiration for our ‘first supper’, which lead us to this soup. It’s really fresh and super gingery. It tastes healthy and satisfying.

This recipe has been adapted from one of Gordon Ramsey’s cookbooks, and we’ve made it many times since.

Serves 4 for a filling meal

ingredients

For the balls

  • 200g raw prawn flesh, finely chopped Until they are coursely mince (400g whole, raw prawns, peeled and deveined) – pref. local, sustainably caught
  • 500g minced pork – pref. pasture fed, organic
  • 3 Tbsp finely chopped chives / spring onions / Asian shallots / red onions
  • 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and diced
  • 4 kaffir lime leaves, centre stalks removed, rolled up and finely sliced
  • coconut oil / olive oil / ghee for shallow pan-frying
  • Salt and pepper to season

For the broth

  • 2L stock (any would be fine – we use homemade chicken broth as we usually have loads in the freezer)
  • 3 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
  • 3 whole star anise
  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce (or oyster sauce)
  • 2 Tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)

For serving

  • 2-4 big handfuls of fresh baby spinach
  • 1 spring onion, sliced
  • 1 red chilli, sliced (optional)

method

For the broth

  1. Put the stock, ginger and star anise in a big saucepan, bring to the boil the drop heat back to a low simmer.
  2. Add the fish sauce and soy sauce, stir to combine, taste and add more to your taste if necessary.
  3. Leave to simmer while you make the balls to develop the flavours.

For the balls

  1. Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl with your fingers until everything’s well combined.
  2. Roll into small meatballs about the size of walnuts (makes about 40)
  3. Heat a heavy-based fry plan over medium heat and add a dash of oil.
  4. Fry the balls in a couple of batches until golden brown all over.

Assemble faux pho

  1. Assemble in bowls by adding a balls to each, some baby spinach, spring onions and chilli, then pour over hot broth.