These prawns are delicious with steamed rice or over thin egg noodles. You could swap the prawns for sea scallops or diced white-fleshed fish – either way, consider tossing through some sliced seasonal asparagus. For a vegan version of this dish, cut an eggplant into 2cm cubes and fry with the other vegetables, substituting the fish sauce with soy or tamari. Enjoy.
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
½ red capsicum, seeded and cut into 5mm strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 large prawns, peeled and deveined
3 or 4 sprigs coriander
2 tbsp sugar
¼ cup tamarind puree
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp sriracha sauce
juice of 1 lime
To make the sauce, combine the sugar, tamarind puree, fish sauce, sriracha sauce and lime juice in a small bowl, and stir to dissolve the sugar. Set aside.
In a wok or large skillet, heat the oil over high heat until almost smoking. Add the onion, capsicum and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add the prawns and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until they have turned pinkish but are still translucent: you want them to be about half-cooked.
Pour the sauce over the prawns and stir to coat. Let the sauce come to the boil, continuing to stir for 1-2 minutes. The sauce will reduce and thicken, cooking the prawns through.
Spoon onto a deep plate, garnish with coriander, and serve immediately.
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