Garlicky Prawns in Red Kaffir Coconut Sauce and Morning Glory

I’ve been brainstorming so many seafood ideas for the blog for so long, and after watching some videos on Thai Cuisine, I was inspired to make a dish using some of their well loved ingredients.

I wanted to make sure that the sauce was what stood out the most - it uses a lot of frangranced and umami filled ingredients which makes a gorgeous paste- unlike any I’ve been able to buy before. A lot of these ingredients can be found at an asian supermarket, you won’t find many of these in a European shop.

Ingredients

For the red Kaffir paste:

1/4 cup (6g) dried chillies

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

Thumb sized knob (12g) of galangal

4 fresh kaffir lime leaves, stem removed

thumb size knob (12g) of fresh turmeric

7 cloves of garlic

6 small thai shallots or 2 shallots, cut into small chunks

2 tsp tamarind paste

1/2 tsp shrimp paste, optional

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp coconut sugar

3/4 tsp sea salt

Method:

1. Place the dried chillies into a cup with just enough boiling water to cover. Let steep for 10 minutes, until they have softened.

2. In a dry pan on medium heat, add the cumin and coriander seeds. Toast for 1 minute, until the aroma comes out and the seeds have taken on little colour- make sure not to burn them.

3. In a mortar and pestle or food processor, break down the galagal, kaffir lime leaves, turmeric, shallot, and garlic until a paste forms.

4. Add the soaked chillies, along with 2 tbsp of the soaking liquid into the galangal mixture. Mix or pound the ingredients together until a looser paste forms, and all ingredients have been broken down evenly.

5. Add the tamarind paste, shrimp paste (if using,) tomato paste, coconut sugar and salt, blend or mix together until the red kaffir paste is homogeneous. This paste makes more than needed for this dish - place in a jar, sealed in the fridge up to 1 month (it can be used in many Thai red curry recipes in place of the paste.)

Ingredients for the Prawns:

10 cloves of garlic, sliced thin

6 tbsp red kaffir paste

6 jumbo prawns head-on, cleaned and de-veined

1/2 cup (90g) water

6 tbsp coconut cream

164g morning glory, cut into thirds or quarters

1 lime, cut into wedges

Method

1. Pour enough oil in a pan to cover the bottom in a thin coat (a few tbsps will be enough). Add the garlic, and bring it up to medium heat. Cook the garlic until lightly golden, stirring occasionally.

2. Once lightly golden, add in the red kaffir paste, cook out for a few minutes, until the paste has slightly deepened in colour - make sure not to burn the paste as it will make the dish bitter.

3. Add the prawns into the pan, along with the water and coconut cream. Stir the mix around, making sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.

3. Bring the mix to a boil, then drop the morning glory into the pan, stir to distribute the sauce around, place a lid on for 4-5 minutes.

4. After 4-5 minutes, remove the lid, give everything a stir. If the sauce is not thick enough for your liking, keep cooking the dish, with the lid off until it reduces and thickens. When done, remove from the heat, season with salt if needed, and stir in a squeeze of lime juice. Serve hot with some rice.