Drunken Herbal Prawn Soup

Ingredients

500gms large prawns (freshest you can find - if you can get live ones esp. tiger prawns, it's the best)
3cm length ginger ) cut into fine strips
2 tbsp goji berries
2 dried mushroom ) soaked till soft and sliced thinly
2 pieces wood ear ) soaked till soft and cut into fine strips
2 slices dong quai (angelica sinensis) - reduce or omit if you do not want a herbal soup
1 clove garlic (smashed)
2 - 3 cups water depending on the volume of soup you wish to have
1/2 cups rice wine
1-2 tsp light soya sauce
a dash of white pepper powder



Method

1. Boil water in a pot (use claypot, if you have). Toss in ginger, goji berries, garlic, mushroom, wood ear and dong quai. Let simmer till the aroma of dong quai is released.

2. Pour in rice wine and bring to boil and stir in the prawns. Cook prawns until they turn pink and turn off heat. Do not overcook the prawns.

3. Season with soya sauce and white pepper.

The drunken prawn soup I have made here looks dark as my homemade yellow rice wine has aged. If you use a "young" batch of homemade rice wine or commercially produced ones, you will get a much paler colour.

Enjoy this tummy-warming soup piping hot on a cold, rainy day :)

I just had mine - like the whole pot of this and forgot to eat my steamed rice and side dish of kimchi!! SO GOOD!

It doesn't look soupy here as I needed to have the prawns take centrestage for the photoshoot.