Passport & Plate - Prawn Curry with fried rice and crispy shallots
Myanmar | Monday, March 2, 2015 | 4 photos
Ingredients
Fried Shallots and Shallot Oil:
1 cup peanut oil
2 cups thinly sliced shallots
Fried Rice:
2 to 3 tablespoons of the shallot oil created from the fried shallots
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup sliced shallots
4-5 cups cooked and cooled jasmine rice
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup green peas (frozen is fine)
fried shallots
lime wedges
Prawn Curry:
200g peeled prawns
1/2 cup finely diced shallots
1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
2 tablespoons shallot oil created from the fried shallots
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 tin chopped tomatoes (without herbs)
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 green birdseye chilli, finely chopped and de-seeded if you want less heat
1/2 teaspoon salt
coriander leaves and lime wedges to dress
How to prepare this recipeFried Shallots:
Using a heavy wok, heat the oil until it sizzles lightly. Test the temperature with one slice of shallot; when it rises to the surface of the oil you can add the rest carefully and lower the heat to medium. Stir gently and frequently and when the shallots turn golden (about 10 -15 minutes) carefully remove from the oil with a slotted spoon or a spider and leave to drain on kitchen paper. As they cool they will crisp up. Set the oil to one side for cooking with for the rice and the curry
Fried Rice:
Cook the jasmine rice according to the packet instructions, drain and leave to cool
Heat the shallot oil in a heavy wok then add the turmeric and the shallots and stir fry until the shallots are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Raise the heat to high and add the jasmine rice, salt and peas. Stir fry, pressing the rice against the side of the wok to sear it. Continue cooking until the rice is hot by which time the peas will have cooked through. Add 3/4's of the fried shallots, stir and serve with the curry
Prawn Curry:
Pound the garlic and shallots to a paste in a pestle and mortar
Heat the oil in the wok over a medium high heat. Add the turmeric and stir, then add the shallots and garlic paste, lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently until soft and translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes at a medium boil stirring occasionally until the tomatoes are softened and any excess oil has risen to the surface. Skim off the excess oil
Add the water and fish sauce, bring back to a medium boil and add the prawns. Cook until the prawns turn pink then add the chopped chilli and salt, stir briefly, check and adjust the seasoning if required and serve over the fried rice, garnished with the last of the fried shallots, coriander leaves and lime.
The story behind this recipeBurma is on my bucket list of places to visit. My grandmother is Burmese and I have heard so many of her stories from her childhood growing up there, stories of her foraging for wild mushrooms, helped by Japanese soldiers who, despite being the enemy, were so kind to children. The legend of why the dragon loves the orange, tales of playing in the red double decker bus treehouse in the jungle that served as the backgarden. I would listen to them all, enraptured as she taught me Burmese finger dancing as we walked down the street. I am desperate go, to see the temples and the fishing villages. Sadly, it is only recently that this has really become a viable and safe possibility.
Strangely enough, my grandmother never made us traditional food when we visited her although she has still managed to influence our tastebuds! My mum loves ngapi on toast and will start drooling at the mention of balachaung (although the smell will make you choke a bit) and I will happily munch cold curry on toast for breakfast. Grandma used to show up at our home with bags filled with sweet smelling ripe mango's that we would quite happily work our way through in a single sitting. Grandma herself has an incredibly sweet tooth, fuelled by her love of malaing lohn, the Burmese version of gulab jamun.
Grandma was asked years ago to write down all her recipes for us in a cook book. Instead, she bought all the women in my family a cook book by Naomi Duguid where this recipe is from - she said that no other recipes she has tasted remind her so much of home. I may not be able to visit Burma, but thanks to this gift, I have started to learn to cook the food of my (grand)mother land.
The flavours are undoubtedly Asian but not as pronounced as those of Thailand or China - there is an Indian influence which gives Burmese food its own unique characteristics.
Eat and be transported to the paddy fields in the late afternoon heat, stretching out on the banks of the great Irrawaddy river.
