John Torode’s BBQ king prawn noodles
Fresh off the plane from visiting down under… John Torode’s back in the kitchen with a dish inspired by his trip to Australia. He’s making marinated spicy grilled BBQ prawns along with a Thai salad and crispy fried noodles.
Grilled prawns with a spicy noodle salad
Makes 6 skewers
Ingredients
For the skewers:
1 tsp red curry paste
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tin coconut milk
12 large prawns, deveined and shelled, head on
6 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for an hour before use, to stop any splinters or the wood burning
For the salad:
Handful fresh mint
Handful Thai basil
Handful coriander leaves (save the stems for the dressing)
1 cucumber, shredded
2 spring onions, shredded on the bias
Handful Chinese cabbage or pak choy, shredded
2 handfuls bean sprouts
1 carrot, shredded
100g glass noodles (e., mung bean or rice vermicelli), soaked in warm water for 20 minutes and drained
For the dressing:
Juice of 3 limes
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 Thai shallots, finely chopped
2 long red chillies, finely chopped
40g palm sugar or soft brown sugar
40ml fish sauce
Handful coriander stalks
To top:
50g dry egg noodles, for deep frying
Handful of crispy shallots
Method
To make the skewers:
1. Preheat the barbecue or a non-stick grill plate.
2. In a small pot or pan heat the oil and fry off the red curry paste until it starts to become fragrant.
3. Add the sugar and reduce the heat by half, stirring the sugar in well until it dissolves and starts to bubble.
4. Add the coconut milk, stir well and increase the heat, bringing the milk to the boil and allowing it to reduce by a third.
5. Meanwhile, thread the prawns onto the wooden skewers and set to one side.
6. Once the coconut milk mixture has reduced, turn off the heat and allow it to cool. Then pour the chilled coconut milk over the top of the prawns, and leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
7. Place the prawns onto the barbecue and cook for approximately 4-5 minutes on each side, until the prawns turn nice and pink. They are then ready to serve.
To make the noodles and salad:
1. First make the dressing. Place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz. It should still have a little texture but a dressing consistency.
2. Using a pair of scissors, cut the rice noodles into finger length pieces and place in a bowl. Pour over half of the dressing and mix well.
3. For the salad, mix the herbs with the shredded cucumber, bean sprouts, cabbage and spring onions. Toss well, and add a few spoons of the dressing. Combine with the rice noodles.
4. Top the noodles and salad with the deep fried egg noodles and crispy shallots.