thebigfatnoodle

To make Chilli Prawns

10-12 large tiger prawns – it’s up to you to decide if you’d like to peel them or not but do leave the heads on as it’s essential for adding flavour to the dish

2 brown onions, peeled and quartered

4 red chillies 2 green chillies (optional)

(optional)1 teaspoon Belachan – this is a fermented shrimp paste you can find in Asian groceries but you can leave it out

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 generous thumb sized pieces of ginger, peeled

2 tablespoons vinegar

3 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon tomato paste

400ml tomato puree – I use passata

4 tablespoons light soy sauce

½ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons corn flour or potato starch, mixed in with  ½ cup of water

2 beaten eggs

Preparation

In a food processor, blend the chillies, red onion, garlic and ginger.

In a small bowl, prepare your corn flour and water mixture.

In another bowl, mix the remaining wet ingredients (except the oil), stirring in the salt and sugar until everything’s mixed well.

To cook

On the highest setting/flame, heat the oil in a wok and stir fry your belachan, blended onion, ginger, garlic and chilli mixture until most of the liquid has been fried off. Pour in your tomato mixture and fry/stir this for about 5 minutes until everything’s mixed in thoroughly.

Add your prawns/seafood and when they turn pink (which means they’re cooked), add the corn flour mixture to start thickening the sauce.

Add in the beaten eggs, give it a gentle stir and turn off the heat while still stirring the egg mixture so it mixes well with the sauce. Don’t worry if it looks like you end up with some thin ribbons of egg, they’re an added bonus!

Pour everything into a deep serving dish, garnish it with fresh coriander and serve it with man tou or your favourite white/brown bread. White rice works well too but you really need a bread like man tou (or a super soft white loaf or bread rolls) to sop up all of that sauce.