Tamarind Prawns

I believed I first discovered tamarind marinated prawns during a party when a girlfriend of mine used tamarind pulp to marinate a plate of prawns to be put over the BBQ pit. The end result was extremely delicious. I've not made this dish for sometime now and as I had some prawns in the freezer, this seemed an appropriate time. Even though our weekends can sometimes be quite hectic, I didn't really want to eat out again. There is really nothing like home cooked food, even though it may the simplest dish. This particular dish works best if you are using the freshest prawns available and you have to serve it hot with a bowl of steaming white rice. I guess egg noodles will also work though I've not tried it.


Tamarind Prawns
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

500g large prawns with shells
1 ball of tamarind pulp about the size of a large grape mixed with 3 Tbsp of water. Strain and set aside the juice
Soy sauce and white ground pepper, to taste
1-2 tsp of sugar (suggest you add a bit first to taste)

Method:

1) Remember that when seafood comes into contact with tamarind, they tend to get a bit mushy and overly soft. Therefore, always refrain from seasoning and leave the seafood standing for too long. However, if you have tough meats, you may season them with tamarind to make the meat less tough.

2) Therefore, what you need to do is to have a quick, thorough seasoning and drop the whole thing into the wok.

3) DO NOT put any oil at this juncture. Leave the prawns to dry up a bit before adding oil because there is nothing worst than tamarind prawns with wet, gravy.

4) Once you add the oil, leave the prawns to fry till dry and fragrance. You can either cook it extremely dry and nice or leave a little gravy to mix with your white rice. Heavenly, either way.