nigella lawson's hot and sour soup

After last night's school pot luck, we're both feeling pretty shabby today. Luckily one of us has to go to work, whilst the other gets to loaf around Hammersmith, lunching at The Lyric under the guise of 'looking for work'.

Still a hangover is a hangover, and given one member of the household has decided to collapse on the sofa, I've decided to resurrect a soup we used to eat loads when we were house-sitting at the Superwhite's Balham residence: Nigella's hot and sour soup.

It's perfect: It takes about 10 minutes to make, and is packed full of enough big, bold flavours to get a sweat-on, and drive a headache out.

Strangely enough it's not quite how I remember it, it's slightly less aromatic, which I put down to the fact we didn't have any Tom Yum paste. At least I think it's that, but I can't exactly remember what Tom Yum paste actually tastes like...

I also forgot to take a picture, sorry.

Wine Time
Gosh, what do you pair with spicy, hot water with prawns bobbing about in it? Given you're eating/drinking loads of liquid, I think whatever you do drink might as well be brilliant because you're not going to have room for much more liquid. Usual caveats apply - something with some sweetness and fruit to temper the heat, and aromatic to match the spices, so pick a good quality Riesling - and Dr Loosen is a pretty readily available, good quality producer - and you'll be dandy.

sources
hot and sour soup - Nigella Lawson, Nigella Bites c/o Delicious, February 2009, p83