You can substitute fish or chicken or pork or tofu if you like
It’s easy as long as you’ve nailed down the process. Takes about 20 – 30 minutes, less once you’ve done it a few times. What I’ve learned about Asian dishes is the importance of 4 things:
- Quality ingredients
- Thorough preparation
- A process that works under pressure
- A decent size wok or fry pan that you can take high heat
Let’s start with the ingredients:
- Prawns – I use Ocean Chef Extra Large Raw Prawns Tail On, from Woolworths. They’re from the Gulf of Carpentaria, shelled and deveined, and cost $22 for half a kilo. Sometimes they’re on spec at $17. These are firm, fleshy, tasty prawns that take about 4 minutes to cook but can take extra heat without going soggy.
- Leek, 1/3 of a decent sized leek; or spring onions if you prefer
- Bunch of broccolini
- Handful or sweet peas (sugar snaps)
- Grated ginger to taste
- 2 cloves of Garlic
- Juice of 1 lime
- 3 kaffir lime leaves, chopped up
- 2 tbsp sweet chili ginger and soy sauce (Kikoman is good)
- 5 tbsps of Ayam red curry paste
- 2/3 can of coconut milk
- White wine
- Teaspoon Chili flakes
- Coriander, fresh or dried
- Basil, fresh or dried
- seasoning
Prep and Process
As usual with Asian cooking, it’s best to have all the bits and pieces ready to go before you start cooking
- Thaw the prawns, ideally put them in the fridge on a plate covered in cling wrap for a few hours or just let them thaw in the open air for an hour or two, make sure you pour water off once in a while
- Parboil or steam the broccolini – 5 minutes depending on thickness, set aside
- Grate the ginger, smash and chop the garlic, cover in lime juice – set aside
- Chop the leek and cut the strings off the sweet peas
- Fry the garlic, ginger, chopped leek and lime leaves in sesame oil in a wok or hot pan for 3 – 4 minutes, add the broccolini, the soy sauce, and 1/3 or a glass of white wine or thereabouts
- in a small pan. fry red curry paste for a couple of minutes with about 3 times the quantity of white wine or sherry, set side
- Add the prawns, add seasoning, fry and toss for 3 minutes
- Add the red curry paste mix, then the lime juice, the chili flakes, basil and coriander
- Stir well, then add the coconut milk and the sweet peas.
The last 3 steps shouldn’t take longer than 6 – 7 minutes. Serve on its own or with some rice (I use rice I’ve left over from the day before.