Vege, Shrimp, and Milk Soup with Vermicelli 鲜虾牛奶汤米粉

This soup is inspired by my favorite Malaysian food "Fish head vermicelli 鱼头米粉".

Know one of those days when it's cold and foggy outside?
Those days always make me crave for a bowl of hot steaming soup.

So I decided to make my mom proud and pack in lots of nutritious ingredients into this soup dish: vegetable, mushroom, shrimp, and milk.

After a few renditions, I made it for my boyfriend just now and got both his thumbs up.
(You must think that he basically only had the choice to say "oh it's so yummy!" But the truth is, we always critique our kitchen experiments with the most unbiased attitude ;)

Here goes..

Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients:
- 4 large shrimps (with heads on)
- 4-6 large shrimps, shelled and deveined.
- 1 corn on the cob, cut into 3 pieces
- 2 tomatoes, sectioned into 6 pieces each
- 1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 pack of oyster mushrooms
- 8-10 branches cilantro
- 5 cups of water
- vermicelli

(Optional)
- 1/2 daikon, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 green onions, cut into 1-inch lengths
- sliced peppers with soy sauce for dipping, if you want a little kick

Seasoning:
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- a pinch of salt
- a pinch of black pepper
- 5 tbsp whole milk

Method:
1) Bring water to boil. Add in head-on shrimps, corns, carrots, and radish. Turn to lo-med heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.

2) Add in tomatoes and fish sauce. Continue simmering for 10 minutes.

3) Add in oyster mushroom, green onions, and milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

4) Start preparing vermicelli: In another pot, bring water to boil. Add 1 tsp fish sauce and a big pinch of salt to the water (else vermicelli will be tasteless and soak up all the flavoring in the soup). When water is boiling, add dried vermicelli to water and cook for about 30 seconds.
Drained and put in serving bowls.

5) Add in medium shrimps and cilantro, and turn off the heat. Remove cobs and cut the corns off the cobs (the corns are still very sweet!). Pour soup over vermicelli, and eat while hot.