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
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

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