King prawns with nam jim dressing

The sweet-salty flavours of this famous Thai dressing are great with fresh seafood.

Prawns and the Australian summer go hand in hand. Credit: Tropical Gourmet

• serves

  2-3

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 5-6 large prawns
• 2 long red chillies , roughly torn with seeds
• 1 coriander root, roughly torn
• 2 cloves garlic, microplaned
• 1 tbsp palm sugar, microplaned
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• Chili and garlic paste
• Olive oil

Instructions

1. Peel prawns, leaving the tail and head on. Use a sharp knife to make an incision down the back and devein the prawn. Coat the prawns in chili and garlic paste.
2. Place a grill pan with olive oil on a high heat, ensure the pan is hot before adding your prawns to prevent them from stewing.  Cook the prawns for approximately 2 minutes on each side or until they appear glassy in the middle.
3. Use a mortar and pestle to pound together chillies, coriander root and garlic.  Add palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice; continue to combine until it forms a sauce.
4. Serve cooked prawns with nam jim sauce.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.