Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007, 2:22 p.m., Recipe: Chili Prawns

Adapted from Singapore Favourites, by Wendy Hutton (2003)
Serves 2.

300g uncooked prawns (fresh & whole, or thawed & de-headed)

Marinade:
1 large clove garlic, sliced
1 medium chili, de-seeded & sliced
olive oil, to cover

Chili Paste:
2 medium chili, de-seeded
1 large clove garlic, bruised
ground ginger, to taste
5-6 coriander seeds
generous pinch sesame seeds
ground sea salt, to taste
½ t brown sugar
¼ t raw sugar

olive oil
cooking sherry
water, to just cover base of frypan
coriander to taste, chopped
balsamic vinegar, to taste
baguette, or other crusty bread

• Prepare prawns.
  1. Rinse prawns under running water, twice.
  2. In a medium bowl, put in prawns then garlic then chili then oil. Stand 5 mins. Mix to coat all prawns in oil. Stand at least 5 mins. Mix prawns, and leave until ready to cook.
• Prepare chili paste.
  1. In a mortar, put in all ingredients except for raw sugar. Blend until it is a paste. Add raw sugar and continue until it is a fine paste.
• To cook:
  1. Mix the prawns. Set aside.
  2. In a frypan, heat the oil on medium. Put in the chili paste and heat until it is beginning to sizzle.
  3. Add sherry. Stir until this is reduced a bit, add water and bring to a boil on high heat.
  4. Reduce the heat to medium-high. Reduce the sauce – stir to prevent it from burning.
  5. Add prawns and marinade. Simmer, and toss prawns occassionally, until cooked. Take pan off the heat.
  6. Add coriander, and mix through.
• To serve:
  • Arrange in a bowl, or on a platter. Splash balsamic vinegar sparingly over the prawns.
  • Garnish with chopped coriander, or spring onion, if any.
  • Serve with sliced baguette – it is great for mopping up the sauce.

The credited book above was a birthday gift from my sister. Being a lazy cook, I can only leaf through and admire anyone who has the stamina for the preparation stages of the recipes therein. I digress.

As today we went shopping early, this meant I had enough willpower and energy to make some effort for a cooked lunch. I was very taken by the frozen prawns, and in return I took some. My original idea involved only the 'marinade' section, which I had previously seen on tv. Then I came home, and more creativity fermented.

This is an experimental recipe and as such the only thing I am certain of are the ingredients I used. The proportions of them are a bit hazy, mainly along the lines of “a splash of this” “a dash of that” “a sprinkle” “two sprinkles” until the colour, aroma, texture, consistency was what I was happy with.

And even then, the whole was much improved by the splash of balsamic vinegar at the serving stage.

Today's cooking hint involves frozen prawns: the head tastes very disgusting when cooked, so I am going to be de-heading any which I buy. Only one out of 270g was rather edible – and it was ni-iice. But it is not worth taking the chance. It is better to leave the shell and tail on, as they soak up the flavour very well. (Note: SO disagrees, and much prefers the shell off so the flesh soaks up the flavour.)

You may want to serve with some dairy products, e.g. yoghurt, as my first taste was fairly surprising until my tastebuds were acclimatised.

I am thinking of re-working the chili paste/sauce for vegetables.

Just a thought.

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(c) Sockii