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Nigel Slater is my kind of cook. He may, in fact, be my favorite recipe writer. His recipes are casual, unfussy, and absolutely packed with flavor. His Really, Juicy, Spicy Meatballs (Wayne does a version with one of the veg-meat products, don't laugh) are on my all-time favorites list.

There are a couple reasons this recipe appealed to me. It has been cold and nasty out, and I've been getting over a nasty cold. What better time to make a nice hot, creamy bowl of spicy noodle soup? The power company (PG+E) tried to throw a wrench in my noodle soup preparations when power went out all over San Francisco last night at around six.

We ended up cooking by candlelight, and I dusted off the mortar and pestle to make the spice paste. There is something satisfying about working for your food instead of taking the shortcuts many modern kitchen appliances offer. A little elbow grease makes everything taste better.

The spice paste was strong, beautifully fragrant, and h-o-t. After I made the paste the rest of the soup was a breeze -- stock, coconut milk, lime juice, and a sprinkling of mint rounded out the flavors.

I absolutely loved the way the broth turned out. I might even make this again with just the broth accented with the spice paste and coconut milk. I made the vegetarian version of this soup with vegetable stock and extra noodles in place of the shelled prawns and crab meat. Delicious.

A Luxurious and Deeply Aromatic Noodle Dish

Heidi note: This is my slightly adapted vegetarian version - the book features this recipe with crab-meat and prawns.

For the spice paste:
Chilies - 4 or 5 small, hot red ones
Garlic - 2 or 3 small cloves
Ginger - a small lump, about the size of a walnut in its shell
Lemon grass - 2 or 3 plump stalks
Coriander seeds - a few
Coriander leaves - a few (hs note: cilantro for all you non-brits)
Ground tumeric - a teaspoon
vegetable oil - a little

For the soup:
Stock - vegetable, 500 ml
Coconut milk - 400ml (lite is ok)
A lime - just the juice
Soy sauce
Mint - a small handful of leaves

To finish:
Noodles - I think I used about 1 lb....big, chubby, fresh asian egg ones.

Halve and seed the chilies. Peel the garlic. Peel and shred the ginger. Finely slice the tender, innermost leaves of the lemon grass. Grind the coriander seeds or crush them in a mortar. Blitz it all to a thick paste in a food processor with the coriander leaves and any well scrubbed roots, plus the tumeric. You may need a few tablespoons of vegetable oil to help it go round but add as little as you can.

Place a fairly deep pan over moderate heat, add half the spice paste (keep the other half in the fridge for tomorrow) and fry it, movingit round the pan, for a minute or so, then pour in the stock, coconut milk, and a splash of soy sauce -- let it come to the boil. Turn the heat down and let the soup simer for ten minutes. Meanwhile cook the noodles briefly in boiling water and drain them.

Divide the noodles between four large, deep bowls and ladle over hot soup. Sprinkle with mint leaves.

Serves about 4.

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