Hi, I am Gee Charman and welcome back to my Back to Basics series.
In this episode I am going to show you how to cook delicious crispy prawns with a homemade
sweet chili dipping sauce.
[music] So
we all know that bottle of sweet chili sauce that we have tucked away in the cupboard,
well this is so simple you can make it yourself.
So in a saucepan I am going to add some rice wine vinegar.
If you do not have rice wine vinegar you can easily use white wine or, better still, some
cider vinegar.
And the idea is that you are going to create syrup with sugar and vinegar.
Now you want equal quantities so if you are using 150 ml's of vinegar you want 150 grams
of castor sugar.
The vinegar is in and the heat is on.
I am just going to turn that up a little bit and I am going to add my castor sugar.
It is best to use castor sugar rather than brown sugar because it gives a nice clear
sauce and then the pink of the chili comes out and colors it beautifully.
So I am just going to stir that and then allow the sugar to dissolve.
Now there is one apology I have to make for this.
This does make your house smell of vinegar for a little while but it is worth it.
So it is just starting to turn clear now as the sugar dissolves and I am going to put
in some red chili.
Red chili is best because this gives it an amazing color as opposed to green which gives
it this sort of muddy color.
But for all the ingredients and method just check out the description box.
So chili goes in, as hot as you like, and then just to give it a real fresh kick a bit
of ginger.
It is not traditional but I think it is a nice addition to the dish.
So give those a bit of a stir around and then you just want to bubble that for about ten
minutes until it is thick and reduced and all syrupy.
As things cool they will get thicker so do not go overly reduced so it is really thick
because by the time you finish you will end up with a set gumball of sweet chili sauce.
So once this is cooked out and cooled slightly I am going to add some fish sauce.
Now this adds a real Asian twist to it and a bit of saltiness.
It absolutely reeks but it absolutely adds this beautiful to it in the saltiness.
So we will add that a bit later on.
So that is boiling away nicely and then to go with that I am going to do some delicious
crispy prawns.
So in my deep sort of sautee pan I am just going to start heating up some oil.
Now I have just got some king prawns, raw, from the supermarket.
And as you can see they are this grey color.
Someone the other day said to me 'oh, those prawns are a different variety.
They are not, this is what prawns look like before they are cooked.
And then I have got corn flour.
Now, because I am going to fry these prawns, you can overcook them.
Once they turn pink, that beautiful pink color you know they are cooked but they can start
to overcook on the outside before the middle bit of this thick end is cooked.
So I am just going to dust them in a little bit of corn flour to give them a little bit
of a protective coating.
So, also what I am going to do is add a tiny bit of turmeric for color into the corn flour.
You do not want it bright yellow but just a little bit.
So my oil is getting hot.
Now it is not deep frying but you want to check that your oil is hot enough so that
you are not going to waste any prawns and make them go soggy.
So I have got a little bit of bread, just corner of a little bit, pop that in.
If it starts to fizz and bubble then you know it is hot.
The other thing to do before you put any food into your pan if you have got that much oil
in it is just give it a little bit of a swirl around.
My sauce is bubbling away and as it is bubbling all that beautiful color from the chilis is
coming out and it is just starting to take on that slightly light pink color.
So my oil is nice and hot, now I am just going to add a little bit of salt to the corn flour
just to make sure the prawns are nicely seasoned.
Give it a bit of a mix around.
And then the prawns can go into the corn flour.
It is best to try and keep one hand vaguely clean.
Shake off any of the excess corn flour and then they can go into the oil.
Now you can see these are a beautiful pink color and perfectly cooked.
Just take them out and drain them on a bit of kitchen paper to take any excess oil away.
Now prawns, when they are cooked, should be nice and firm so without burning your finger
just have a bit of a feel at the thickest.
It is a bit like when you cook chicken it goes nice and firm.
So the prawns are beautiful and crispy and I am just going to get rid of that.
And now, to my sauce, I have just removed it from the heat slightly and as you can see
it is reduced down and is glossy and sticky.
And I am just going to add a dash of the fish sauce.
So I am just going to add that and then a bit of fresh coriander.
Roll it up in a nice little tight bundle.
Once through the other way.
I have just got a little bit of a serving plate.
So I am just going to stack them up and if you like this recipe why not click on the
subscribe button?
Now this, for me, is the perfect canopy or even a little starch that you can put in the
middle of the table just with a few cocktail sticks for picking up.
Now my sauce, you can see this is beautiful and sticky with that heat from the chili,
a bit of freshness from the ginger, and that sweet and sour tang.
Remember it will thicken as it cools.
So that goes in there like that and then just a sprinkling of freshness from a bit of coriander
over the prawns.
And there you have it.
Really simple crispy prawns with a homemade sweet chili dipping sauce.
If you like the recipe and you want to see more why not join me for my next episode in
my Back to Basics series.
[music]