Ingredients
Ingredients
500g green beans, trimmed and halved on the diagonal
1kg raw, shelled king prawns (defrost if frozen)
200ml vegetable oil
100g tamarind paste, or juice 3 limes, see tip below left
2 tbsp chicken stock powder
3 tbsp golden caster sugar
20 small dried red chillies
16 lemongrass stalks, tender parts only
450g shallots, roughly chopped
50g candlenuts or macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
1 tsp shrimp paste
4 tbsp vegetable oil
Tip
Tamarind
Tamarind is acidic and can affect the texture of delicate prawns. Blanching the prawns first will keep them firm. They don’t need much cooking, so check the sauce for seasoning before you put the prawns in.
Direction
First, make the spice paste. Soak the dried chillies in hot water for 20 mins until soft. Drain, then mix the chillies with the rest of the spice paste ingredients in a processor or blender to make an even, fine-textured paste. Put a large pan of water on to boil, then drop in the green beans and cook for 3 mins. Lift the beans from the water, cool under cold running water, then drain. Using the same pan of water, cook the prawns for 1-2 mins, until they have just turned pink, then run these under cold water too. Heat the oil a large wok or frying pan and fry the spice paste over a medium heat for 8-10 mins. Stir in the tamarind paste, chicken stock powder and sugar, and cook for 2 mins. Add the prawns, green beans and 4 tbsp water, and cook for 4-5 mins more until the prawns are completely cooked through and the beans are just tender. Serve immediately with the Pandan steamed rice (see ‘Goes well with’).