Prawns Overdose

A few weeks ago, I bought a group deal voucher for a all-you-can-eat prawns offer for 2 people at the Auckland Fish Market. And along with the prawns you get free flow of salads, chips, garlic bread and dips too. $50 for a two hour seating period. Quite a steal if you ask me.

So Terry and I went. The verdict? Nice ambience, tasty chips and garlic bread, a generous salad spread and of course, prawns overdose! We did pretty well in two hours. I think we could have easily downed a kg of prawns each in addition to the salads, garlic bread and chips!

Fresh garlic bread, chips and dips

The salad bar - beans, pasta, potatoes, coleslaw and greens

Our first serving of freshly steamed prawns

It was a little chilly at the open-air setting but luckily the heater saved the day

Our second serving of prawns because we can!

Prawns in Tamarind Sauce (Assam Prawns)

My granny used to make this dish and I always licked the plate clean. Even sucked the tamarind sauce out of the prawn shells. Perfect with rice.

May be I had too much of it growing up, I don’t really dig assam prawns anymore. But it is still one of my favourite dishes to make for dinner because it needs almost zero preparation. Un-shelled prawns works best.

Ingredients:

• ~10 large prawns, shells intact or 12 – 15 medium un-shelled prawns
• ~ 3/4 cups tamarind paste
• ~ 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar or to taste
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix tamarind paste, dark soy sauce and sugar.
2. In a frying pan, heat cooking oil and pour in sauce mixture.
3. Let it bubble gently until slightly darkened and reduced. Taste and add sugar or soy sauce to balance the acidity of the tamarind.
4. Add in prawns, stirring until sauce becomes caramelised and reduced and prawns are fully cooked.
5. Serve with hot rice.

The tamarind sauce is actually a clever way to camouflage the fishy smell of prawns that are no longer fresh. So next time, if you discover a batch of prawns in the back of the fridge/freezer which you totally forgot about, don’t throw them out, make assam prawns

Chilli Crabs

Chilli crabs, a must order dish in Singapore. I haven’t tried the authentic Singaporean chilli crabs before but this version must be somewhere there (hopefully). A super-easy chilli crabs recipe from my recipe guru Fariza. Sweet, sour, juicy with a hint of spice – definitely a crowd pleaser. The best thing is, all the ingredients are probably sitting in your pantry as we speak.

Terry is a BIG fan of crabs but I have always avoided crabs at the supermarket like a plague because I don’t know what to do with them. I guess the clamps and shell and the size scared me! Terry must be craving for crabs really bad because one day, he bought 4 live crabs at the Avondale morning market while my back was turned buying onions! It was really cheap he said. Thank goodness for Fariza 

Even armed with Fariza’s recipe, I still had another problem. I didn’t know how to prepare the crabs for cooking. I have frozen the poor crabs to death from the day before and determined to just do it. I was surprised at how easy it actually was! With the crab’s belly facing upward, I stuck the knife’s tip into it’s behind, held the top shell down with it and pulled its body upward. Voila, the top shell separated revealing the juicy flesh. I halved each crab symmetrically and rinsed everything. Now let’s start cooking!

Ingredients:

• Approximately 1 kg of crabs (4 medium-sized) - cleaned, top shell removed and halved
• Half cup sweet chilli sauce (I used Thai sweet chilli sauce)
• Half cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon curry powder (I used meat curry powder)
• 1 teaspoon chilli paste or 1 fresh red chilli chopped fine (optional)
• 2 medium onions – one sliced, the other chopped fine
• 1 inch bulb of ginger – sliced
• 3 cloves garlic – chopped fine
• 2-3 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2-3 tablespoons water

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan, stir fry garlic, onion, ginger and chilli paste (if using) on medium heat until soft. 
2. Turn to low heat, cover with lid and let it fry on its own as you prepare sauce mix.
3. In a bowl, mix sweet chilli sauce, ketchup, curry powder and add water until you get a thick soup consistency.
4. Pour sauce mix into saucepan, stir and turn to high heat.
5. As the sauce boils, add in the crabs, stir gently so that crabs are covered or smeared with sauce.
6. Add in sliced onions (no need to stir in), turn to low heat, cover and simmer until crabs turn pink. If you find sauce is too thick, add some water.
7. Serve hot with rice or fried mantou buns.

The verdict - really yummy chilli crabs, Terry approves! I love the chilli sauce with a hint of curry and the rich flavours from the crab juices. Excellent with rice or bread. Crabs can now be on my menu thanks to Fariza

Try this easy chilli crabs recipe yourself!

P.S. This fits the plan perfectly too (evil grinnnnn….)