simple and wholesome: broccoli and prawn soup

Broccoli and prawn soup.

It is a wonderful thing when your ingredients shine. And the easiest way to achieve this, is to keep things simple, while harnessing all the magic you can with what you've got.

In the case of this broccoli and prawn soup, it's all about the prawn heads. Some people would rather not handle these parts of the animal, but by shying away from them you'd be shortchanging yourself. The flavour you can draw out from these things - it's just fabulous, infusing so much richness and complexity into the soup that you hardly need any other embellishments. I mean, aside from salt, pepper, and water, this is effectively a 3-ingredient soup. Grab the prawns, broccoli, and lemon, and you're set. So here we go...

A lemony prawn and broccoli soup.

broccoli and prawn soup (serves 1)

6 large prawns/shrimp, with shells and heads intact
1 cup broccoli florets
1 wedge of lemon
salt and pepper, to taste

Chop off the prawn heads, and remove the shells. Throw the heads and shells into a pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer.
In the meantime, devein the prawns, and set aside.
When the liquid in the pot is reduced, takes on an orange hue and is wonderfully infused with flavour, discard the prawn heads and shells.
Add the broccoli florets to the prawn stock, and bring it to boil. Let the broccoli cook for 1 minute before stirring in the peeled and deveined prawns. Reduce the temperature and allow the soup to simmer gently for about 3 minutes or until the broccoli is tender-crisp and the prawns are just cooked through. Turn off the heat, and add salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer the soup into a bowl, squeeze in some lemon juice, stir with a spoon, and enjoy!

A simple broccoli and prawn soup, with a touch of lemon.

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c restaurant, perth (my first revolving restaurant experience!)

Pleasant views of Perth city and Swan River from C Restaurant.

Given that I work in a restaurant these days, I don't get tempted to dine out as often - but when I saw an online deal for C Restaurant in Perth, I couldn't resist. After all, it is a rare chance that one gets to have a meal at a revolving restaurant for such an affordable price - $49 for a main course and a drink for two. Plus, I'd never been to a revolving restaurant before, and I wanted to try it at least once.

Anyway, long story short, Simon is interstate for work at the moment, so I ended up going with his mum! We took the elevator straight up to the 33rd floor of St Martins Tower, and there we were - in this circular dining space. It rotates slowly, but there is definitely perceptible movement, and I have to confess that I felt a little strange at first. I did settle in eventually, but if you're prone to motion sickness, be warned.

I wasn't sure what to expect - it is generally said that you go to revolving restaurants more for the novelty and the views than for the food - but actually, I really enjoyed my lunch at C Restaurant. I had C’s famous homemade potato gnocchi with spinach, napolitana sauce and gorgonzola cream, and it was a fine example of comfort food done with luxurious elegance - the portion doesn't look that big, but the pillowy gnocchi along with the rich sauce, broiled to a delightful golden-brown, was indulgent enough that I felt happily satisfied afterwards.

C Restaurant's gnocchi with Napolitana sauce, spinach and gorgonzola cream.

Simon's mum had the free-range chicken breast with confit kipfler potatoes, sauteed kale, tomato fondue and gruyere cheese. I tried a little bit of it, and I was impressed by how perfectly cooked the chicken was - I'm generally more of a chicken thigh sort of girl, because I find that to be more succulent, but this piece of chicken breast was wonderfully tender and moist, and the accompanying elements were nicely done, too.

Having said all this, I'm no high-roller so I'm not sure if I could bring myself to pay full price to eat here, but with the online deal, it was definitely great value.

C Restaurant's free-range chicken breast with sauteed kale, tomato fondue, confit kipfler potatoes, and gruyere cheese.

As for the views? At C Restaurant, there is an outer circle seating just by the windows, as well as a slightly elevated inner circle, and we received a table in the latter section. While we didn't get a window seat (hopefully next time!), it was still fun to watch the scenery shift from where we were, over the hour or so that we were there. All in all, an afternoon well spent!

Another view of Perth from the C Restaurant vantage point.

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