Stir-fried Prawns with Tamarind
Tamarind is used in many Thai dishes to give them a characteristic sour, tangy. flavour. Fresh tamarind pods from the tamarind tree can sometimes be bought, but preparing them for cooking is a laborious process. The Thais usually prefer to use compressed blocks of tamarind paste, which is simply soaked in warm water and then strained.
Ingredients
- 50g / 2oz compressed tamarind
- 150ml / ¼ pint / ⅔ cup boiling water
- 30ml / 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 30mI / 2 tbsp chopped onion
- 30ml / 2 tbsp palm sugar
- 30ml / 2 tbsp chicken stock
- 15ml / 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 6 dried red chillies, fried
- 450g / 1lb raw shelled prawns
- 15ml / 1 tbsp fried chopped garlic
- 30ml / 2 tbsp fried sliced shallots
- chopped and shredded spring onions, to garnish
Preparation
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- Put the tamarind in a bowl, pour over the boiling water and stir well to break up any lumps. Leave for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok. Add the chopped onion and stir-fry until golden brown.
- Strain the tamarind juice, pushing as much of the juice through as possible. Measure 90mI / 6 tbsp of the juice. Add to the wok along with the sugar, chicken stock, fish sauce and dried chillies. Stir well until the sugar dissolves.
- Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, then add the prawns, garlic and shallots, and stir-fry about 3-4 minutes, or until the prawns are only just cooked. Scatter over the spring onions and serve at once.
Serves 4-6.