Seafood Ho Fan Soup

STOCK:
1. The integral part of this soup is the broth.
2. Prepare shrimp stock by boiling shrimp heads, shells and tails from at least 500g of large shrimps in 8 cups of water. This will reduce as you will be cooking the other ingredients in the stock.
3. Add 1 large white onion (rough chopped) and 1 medium carrot (rough chopped).
4. Season with salt, pepper and Aromat.
5. Strain, reserve stock and discard the shells.
6. Add Dashi stock (You may use Dashinomoto or you may do it the old fashioned way and boil some Konbu, a type of seaweed, but it will take longer so I suggest using Dashinomoto instead).
7. Add cayenne and if needed salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a rolling boil. Keep the broth simmering.

NOODLES:
1. If you bought dried Ho Fan noodles boil them in water (not the soup) until soft.
2. Drain and shock them in cold water. Set aside.

SEAFOOD and VEGETABLES:
1. These ingredients are to be blanched in the soup until cooked. Use a strainer to keep the soup clear.
a. Carrots (Use mini-sandwich cutters to shape them)
b. Squid (score in a criss-cross pattern but make sure you don’t cut through the squid) don’t overcook otherwise it will turn rubbery.
c. Sliced Fresh Brown mushrooms.
d. Sliced Creamy Dory.
e. Deveined Shrimps.
2. Cut into strips a few leaves of Ombok (or Chinese cabbage). Use only the green leafy part as the bottom half may be too tough.) Set aside.
3. Cut into rings 1 large white onion and rinse with running cold water. Dry and set aside.
4. Blanch in salted water 1 cup of bean sprouts. Dry and set aside.

To serve, arrange in a bowl (use a may use a deeper soup bowl) and ladle in the broth and top with chopped spring onions. You may also add slices of hardboiled egg.