Tomato egg flower soup
Sweet and Sour Prawn noodles
King Prawn noodles
Smoked Duck Noodles
Stir fried Scallops with Roe sauce
Stir Fried Chicken and Cashew Nuts
Prawn, Sweet Peppers and Cashew Nuts
Many more recipes to follow…………..
Chinese recipes
Tag: prawns
Oven Roasted Marinated Prawns with Makhani Sauce
Prawns marinated then roasted in a very hot oven, served with a delicious Makhani style curry sauce. Delicious!
King Prawns are butterflied then marinated in yogurt, garlic, cumin seeds, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, salt and lemon juice. They are put on skewers then roasted in a very hot oven to try to replicate the traditional clay ovens used in Indian cuisine – which I’m guessing you don’t have either. The result is juicy prawns with a really delicious coating.
The sauce is made from tomatoes, onion, chilli, ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, almonds, desiccated coconut, bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, tomato pure, sugar, salt, and a little butter at the end to give it that classic gleam.
It may seem like a lot of ingredients, but really its quite easy. You can serve the dish with choice of rice or Indian bread, I opted for a good shop bought roti.
Serves two
Preparation and cooking 35-40 minutes (plus 1hr marinating time)
Ingredients and Method
For the marinated Prawns
225-250g raw king prawns – devein and butterfly
150-175g Greek yogurt
4 cloves garlic – thinly slice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp hot chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garam masala
Juice of half a lemon
4 long wooden skewers – soak in water before use
Method: Mix all the marinade ingredients (minus prawns) in a large mixing bowl until the spices and yogurt combine. Devein and butterfly the prawns and add them to the marinade. Mix gently until all the prawns are fully coated, then cover and place in a fridge for at least 1hr, or preferably overnight.
After this remove from the fridge and leave for 20 minutes to get to room temperature. Skewer the prawns, skewering at both ends so the prawns are skewered twice (head and tail). Have the prawns close together but not squashed – see picture below.
See the method for the sauce for cooking instructions, as these cook quickly and should be done when the sauce is ready.
For the Makhani Sauce
3 medium size white onions – dice
2 large green chillies – remove stalk, slice
2 tsp mustard seeds
1-2 tbsp. vegetable oil
6 large round tomatoes – quarter
3 tbsp. desiccated coconut
2 tbsp. sliced almonds
1 bay leaf
6 cloves
6 cardamom pods
6 cloves garlic – crush or roughly chop
Thumb sized piece of root ginger – roughly chop
1 tsp salt
3-4 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp tomato pure
2 mugs of water
1/4 tsp ground fenugreek
25-35g butter – cut into cubes
1/2 tsp garam masala
2-3 tbsp. chopped coriander as garnish
You need a blender and deep non stick pan with a lid
Method: Start by heating the oil in the pan, once hot add the onions and stir fry for 6-8 minutes until the onions colour. Next add the chillies, bay, cloves and cardamom and continue to fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add the garlic, ginger, tomatoes, tomato pure, almonds and desiccated coconut and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 2 mugs of water and stir well, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer, cover and leave to bubble away for 20-25 minutes.
After this carefully remove the lid, then fish out the bay, cardamom and cloves. Add 1 tsp salt and 3-4 tsp of brown sugar, stir well until combined with the sauce.
Leave sauce to cool (to prevent burns) and use the stick blender to form a smooth sauce. As the sauce cools pre heat your oven to its maximum setting.
Place the sauce back on a medium heat, stir and gently heat the sauce through. Add the garam masala and fenugreek – use your fingers and sprinkle them in otherwise they will form clumps that will be difficult to dissolve. Add the butter and stir it into the sauce as it melts.
Once your oven is preheated to its hottest setting, lay the skewered prawns on a baking tray – use a swiss roll style one as water will come out the marinade as it cooks. Add the prawns to the preheated oven and as they go in reduce heat to 220°C and cook them for 5 minutes. Remove tray from oven, drain off the liquid and return to oven for a further minute. Remove from oven and get ready to serve.
Before serving heat the sauce through until it bubbles. Ladle into serving bowls and sprinkle some coriander on top. Place on a serving plate and add the skewers alongside, as pictured below.
King Prawn Dhal Curry
King prawns, potatoes and carrots in a delicious spiced lentil and tomato curry sauce.
A easy to make curry dish guaranteed to impress your friends and family – they won’t believe you didn’t pick it up from your local Indian restaurant.
Serve with choice of rice or Indian bread.
Serves two
Preparation and cooking time around 1 hour
Ingredients and method
200-250g raw king prawns – devein, butterfly
100g peeled new potatoes – cut into small pieces to cook quickly
5-6 round vine tomatoes – cut into quarters
75g red spilt lentils – rinse thoroughly until water runs clear
1 medium/large carrot – peel and thinly slice into discs
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 medium size white onions – peel and dice
2 medium size red onions – peel and dice
1 small bulb of garlic – peel, crush
15-20g ginger – peel, thinly slice
1 heaped dessert spoon sliced Almond
2 bay leaves
5 cardamom pods
5 cloves
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground fenugreek
80g red split lentils – rinse thoroughly
1 tsp salt – plus extra to taste
water – see method
20-25g butter – cut into cubes
2-3 tbsp. chopped coriander leaf
Note: You require a stick blender (or glass blender) for this recipe
Method: Start by boiling the potatoes for 7-8 minutes , then drain them and set aside ready to add to the curry.
In a deep pan heat 2 tbsp. vegetable oil over a medium high heat and add a teaspoon of mustard seeds. Let the oil heat until the mustard seeds start popping like popcorn. Add the onions and fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions start to colour. Add the garlic, ginger, bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, tomatoes and sliced almonds and stir through the fried onions. Next add half a teaspoon of cumin seeds, ground turmeric, ground coriander and a quarter of ground fenugreek. Stir well and fry the mixture for 4-5 minutes.
Next add the washed lentils and stir well, then add enough water to completely submerge the mixture (I added 2 and a half mugs of water) and a teaspoon of salt. Stir well, bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. After this remove the bay leaves, cardamom pods and cloves from the sauce and blend into a smooth sauce.
Add the cooked potatoes and the thinly sliced carrot (these are both cut into small pieces so they cook quickly) and gently simmer in the sauce for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently as lentils can stick to pans and burn. Taste test the sauce – you may want to add more salt or add more water, depending upon how thick you like your sauce. If your sauce is too runny simply continue to simmer until it reduces to your preference.
When the sauce add the cubes of butter and stir them into the sauce, this will add flavour and the classic gleam to the curry sauce. Complete the dish by adding 1 tbsp. of chopped coriander and the raw king prawns – let them gently poach in the sauce and serve as soon as they turn from grey to pink.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with the rest of the chopped coriander, enjoy!
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Thai King Prawn Curry
King Prawns cooked in a delicious Thai red curry sauce.
This is a quick and easy recipe to make a delicious Thai prawn curry, although you can substitute the prawns for chicken, pork, white fish or tofu if you are a vegetarian. Serve with boiled fragrant jasmine rice.
The authentic flavours come form a wonderful homemade curry paste, like all good Thai curries. There are quite a few ingredients in the paste, however they are perfectly balance and can be used in many other dishes. All the ingredients I use are easily obtained in Scotland from your local Asian supermarket, and increasingly your regular supermarket.
For this recipe you only need half the paste, the other half can be stored in fridge for up to five days, or frozen for next time. You can also use the paste to marinade chicken before roasting, or as I did marinade tiger prawns then roast them in the curry paste – just amazing!
Serves Two people
Preparation 10 minutes, cooking time 10-12 minutes
Ingredients and method
For the curry paste:
4 large red chillies – remove stalk and seeds
6 bird eye chillies – remove stalk and seeds
3 red onions – peel, roughly dice
Thumb sized piece root ginger – peel, roughly chop
2 sticks lemongrass – bruise, remove outer husk and thinly slice
1 medium sized garlic bulb – peel each clove
2 tbsp. cashew nuts
Juice of 2 limes
2 lime leafs
2 tbps ketchup manis
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. coriander stalks
3 tbsp. desiccated coconut
3 tbsp. brown sugar
3 cardamom pods
3 cloves
Method: Use a mini blender or food processor to blitz all the ingredients into a smooth paste. Cutting the harder and more fibrous ingredients such as the ginger and lemongrass helps for a smoother paste. You can also do this the authentic Thai way by using a mortar and pestle – unfortunately due to my disabilities I can no longer do this.
You only need half the paste for this recipe, to store the other half either freeze it (does not effect the flavour like some claim) or store it in a refrigerated airtight container for up to 5 days.
For the main dish:
Half the curry paste
150-200ml coconut milk
50ml water
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
225g Raw king prawns – Shells removed, devein
1 large red chilli – remove stalk, thinly slice
6-8 large Mint leaves – bruise, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. roughly chopped coriander leaf
Method: Heat 1 tbsp. of oil in a wide deep frying pan or wok over a high heat. Add the curry paste, reduce heat to medium and stir fry for 6-8 minutes until the paste is very aromatic. If it begins to catch add a little of the water to loosen the sauce.
Add the water and 150ml coconut milk to the sauce along with the mint leaves, increase the heat until the sauce begins to boil then reduce to a simmer for 2-3 minutes. Taste test the sauce, add a little extra coconut milk if you wish but keep some to drizzle over the dish. Add the prawns and poach them in the sauce for 1-2 minutes, until they change from grey to pink and sauce starts to bubble again.
To complete the dish sprinkle the chopped coriander and sliced chillies on top, and drizzle a swirl of coconut milk on top (1-2 tbsp.). Serve straight away with some fragrant boiled jasmine rice.
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Prawn and Blue Swimming Crab Salad with Korean Chilli dressing
Salad with cold water prawns, chunks of blue swimming crab and a Korean style sesame and chilli dressing.
The summer season is finally here in Edinburgh after a long, cold, dark winter and with it comes salad season. I love nothing more than a good fresh salad on a warm summers day, in fact I have been dreaming about one all winter – there is something about a summer’s day that just says “salad”, or maybe its just me!
With this salad of cold water prawns, blue swimming crab meat, eggs, romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, red chilli, yellow bell pepper and red onion, the twist comes with the dressing which transforms the salad to something really special. The dressing is made from sesame seeds, sesame oil, dark soy sauce, honey, vinegar and the essential Korean ingredient – gochujang chilli paste.
I always find it hard to put into words exactly how my food tastes, but one thing I can say for sure is that the dressing transforms an ordinary salad into a truly exotic and fun dish.
Serves two as main dish or four as a starter
Ingredients and method
The salad
120-150g crab meat – I used blue swimming crab
125-150g cold water prawns – pre cooked, shell and head removed
1 romaine lettuce – wash, dry and roughly shred
4 large round tomatoes – cut into eighths
10-15 cm cucumber – cut into medium thick slices
4 pre boiled eggs – see method
1 red onion – thinly slice
1 yellow bell pepper – cut into small pieces or dice
1 large red chilli – thing slice, keep seeds in for spice (optional)
Method: To boil the eggs – bring a medium-sized sauce pan to the boil then carefully add the eggs one at a time into the water, take care not to drop them in too quickly or they will crack (remove and discard if they crack). Reduce heat so pan is gently boiling and cook for 10 minutes.
After this remove eggs and place them in a bowl of cold water to stop them cooking. Once cooled remove from water and set aside. To remove the shells take the egg and tap the egg against the worktop until it starts to crack, turn the egg and continue to tap so that you crack the egg all the way round (imagine a line round egg and follow it). Once you have cracked the egg all the way round the shell you should be able to gently pull the shell and membrane away from the egg.
Assemble the ingredients, layering them in a large salad bowl ready for the dressing.
For the Korean dressing
1 heaped dessert spoon gochujang chilli paste
1 dessert spoon dark soy sauce
1 dessert spoon clear honey
1 dessert spoon vinegar
1 heaped dessert spoon sesame seeds
2 teaspoons sesame oil
Method: Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well until combined. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 45-60 mins, to allow flavours to develop. Before serving mix well again, then drizzle over the salad, then mix well so it coats everything. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Tiger prawns with Red Curried crab and Wok Fried Rice Noodles
A delicious Thai dish with wok fried marinated rice noodles, stir fried crab in red curry paste, topped with pan fried Indonesian Tiger Prawns.
Normally I feel a bit sheepish about describing my recipes, but as this recipe was created by Mrs Ferret chef I feel that I can praise it without feeling silly. This was truly delicious and worthy of a good Thai restaurant, the kind of dish you would happily pay good money for and return for it time after time.
This dish uses the same curry paste used in my Thai King Prawn Red curry – so is an excellent way to make two very different meals from the same curry paste. Remember this paste freezes very well or can be stored in a refrigerated air tight container for up to 5 days.
Its important to use good prawns, and Indonesian tiger prawns in their shells are the best I can get in Edinburgh at the moment. Keep the heads on prawns when you cook them, there is so much flavour in them, and take care to remove them from the heat the second they are cooked – overcooked prawns are such a disappointment.
This dish may seem fiddly but it is really quite easy to cook. There are three elements to the dish. The Prawns are fried quickly in hot oil, the crab is fried in the curry paste and cooked rice noodles are wok fried in a marinade. None of these are complicated but as with all good dishes they are worth doing right.
For an optional garnish separate some uncooked dried rice noodles and add to hot oil, they will quickly puff up, remove them from oil and drain on absorbent paper. They add a wonderful texture to this and many other Thai dishes, and can be stored in an airtight jar for next time.
Preparation 30-35 minutes, cooking time less than 20 minutes
Ingredients
For the curry paste:
8 cloves garlic – peeled
thumb of ginger – peeled and slice thinly
2 large red chillies – remove stalk, keep seeds
4 red bird eye chillies – remove stalk keep seeds
Zest and juice of 1 lime
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp tamarind paste
2 tsp shrimp paste
2 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. coriander stalks
4 dessert spoons brown sugar
3 dessert spoons desiccated coconut
6 black peppercorns
2 sticks lemongrass – bruise, remove outer husk, slice thinly
Handful of peanuts
8-10 Thai basil leafs – remove stalk
2 lime leafs
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
Method: Use a mini chopper, food processor or mortar and pestle to pound into a smooth paste. Slicing ginger and lemongrass beforehand makes it much easier to form a smooth paste. Once a smooth paste has been formed separate into two even portions. As mentioned above the spare portion can be frozen or stored in an airtight refrigerated container for up to 5 days.
For the curried crab
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
5 tablespoons of curry paste – see above
1 tin white crab meat
For the Tiger prawns
4 Tiger prawns – devein but keep head and shell on
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
For the wok fried rice noodles
2 portions of pre cooked rice noodles
3 to 4 cloves garlic – minced
Thumb of ginger – cut into fine matchsticks
125ml fish stock
1 red bell pepper – sliced into thin strips
Handful coriander – roughly chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
Method: In a bowl combine the stock, fish sauce, dark soy, light soy, sugar, lime and sweet chilli sauce. Mix well until combined and set aside ready to add to the wok.
Optional garnishes
Fried rice noodles – see opening paragraph
handful of peanuts
2-3 tbsp. roughly chopped coriander
Cooking Method
To cook the curried crab: Heat 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan, add the curry paste and fry for 5 minutes. Add the crab just before serving and use the back of a spoon to stir it through the sauce (to prevent crab breaking up). Set aside and heat through just before serving.
To cook the prawns: Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan until smoking hot, add the prawns and fry for 1-2 minutes on each side. The second the prawn turns pink turn it over, once it is pink on both sides remove from oil and drain on absorbent paper. The prawns will stay hot in their shells for at least 5 minutes, so cook them then fry the rice noodles.
To cook the rice noodles: heat 2 tbsp. vegetable oil in the wok until smoking hot, add the garlic, ginger and bell pepper and stir fry for 1 minute. Add the rice noodles, stir well then pour in the sauce from the bowl (see ingredients section). Stir fry until the sauce has almost been absorbed or cooked off, this will take 4-5 minutes.
To assemble dish: Place bed of noodles on plate, then ladle the curried crab on top. Place the prawns on top of the curried crab then sprinkle the garnishes on top.
Ferret chef 