Thai Style Prawn Broth with Asparagus

The lovely farm shop, Hopley's just down the road included this Nigel Slater recipe in their June Newsletter.  It sounds as if it will be jam packed with Thai flavours and really healthy too! I've tinkered with the ingredients a bit as I am not very keen on dill. Thanks to Jeremy and Malin for letting me share it online.

Ingredients
12 large prawns with the shell on
300g of thick asparagus, trimmed
1 red chilli, large, halved and deseeded
1/2 inch piece of ginger
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp groundnut oil
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 lime
A few sprigs of dill or a kaffir lime leaf and coriander leaves.

Method
Peel the prawns and put the shells and heads into a deep saucepan, add a litre of water and bring to the boil, skim and discard and froth, then turn down to a gentle simmer for 25 minutes.  Keep an eye on the stock level and top it up if reducing too much.
Using a potato peeler, shave the asparagus down their length to make ribbon like strips.  Peel and shed the ginger into fine matchsticks.
Warm the oil in a wok or high sided frying pan then add the garlic and fry briefly.  Add the chilli and ginger and cook for a minute to two before adding the peeled prawns.  As they start to turn pink, pour over the strained stock and bring to the boil.
Leave the broth to simmer for 8-10 minutes, then stir in the fish sauce.  Divide the ribbons of asparagus between two or three bowls, remove and discard the chilli then ladle the hot broth and prawns into the bowls.  Taste for seasoning, add a few sprigs of dill or a kaffir lime leaf  with coriander and a squeeze of fresh lime.