Hokkien Prawn Mee with Pumpkin

Noodles in a rich prawn stock, served with succulent fresh prawns, tender pork ribs, fish cake slices, sweet pumpkin cubes, gooey hard-boiled egg and morning glory, garnished with crispy shallots and  topped with sambal chilli

I simply love hokkien prawn noodles with that deep red, rich and spicy prawn soup. The idea of adding pumpkin to the broth came from my FIL, which gives it a touch of natural sweetness. The stock is basically made from lots of prawn heads and shells (fry these in oil first till they turn pink), equal amount of pork ribs, and a large brown onion. Strain the stock and bring to a boil. Add the cubed pumpkin pieces, and then dish them out once they are cooked. Season the stock with salt, pepper and rock sugar. Add some garlic chilli paste to the soup (made by frying some ground dried chillies and garlic in oil, seasoned with salt and sugar), with some extra to serve on the side. Then drop the prawns into the boiling stock until they are just cooked, and remove. If you wish, you can slice the pork and prawns and quickly fry them in some chilli oil to give it a nice red colour.  To serve, place cooked noodles in a bowl along with bean sprouts, prawns, pork ribs, hard boiled egg, fish cake slices and blanched morning glory / water convolvulus, and ladle the soup into the bowl. Serve with extra garlic chilli paste and crispy fried shallots. Yum!