Perfect to hand round with drinks, or as a light lunch or even as a starter, these little prawn lettuce wraps are really simple but delicious.
I like cooking my prawns to have them slightly warm in the wrap, but you can always buy ready cooked of course if you prefer.
Quantities are kind of up to you and a bit play-it-by-ear, but to make one plate of these I used:
1 little gem lettuce, stalk removed and a couple of outer leaves removed too that didn’t look very good
2-3 dessert spoons of dessiccated coconut
2 -3 dessert spoons of peanuts (I used salted ones as that was what was in the shop), chopped into small pieces
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and finely minced
a small-ish piece of ginger, enough to peel and grate a teaspoon or so
1/2 teaspoon (more or less of course to your own taste) of dried chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 spring onion, chopped finely
chopped fresh coriander leaves
some raw prawns, defrotsted if frozen - I think I used 12 or so
2 teaspoons fish sauce
the juice of 1/2-1 lime (and another lime to serve)
First get all the ingredients out and prepared so it’s all ready to go and put the lettuce leaves onto the serving plate.
Put a non-stick pan over a medium heat, add the coconut and toast until a light brown. Stir constantly and watch it closely - it’ll be the one second you look away that it suddenly burns!
Remove from the heat and set aside.
Into a bowl put about 2/3 of the chopped peanuts and set aside the remainder to add later.
Next into the bowl goes the garlic, ginger, dried chilli flakes, sugar, spring onion and most of the coriander leaves, again keeping some back to add later.
Stir and put the bowl aside for now while you cook the prawns.
Cook the prawns in a non-stick frying pan with just a few sprays of cooking oil and a little splash of water until they turn from grey to pink and are just cooked through (about 2-3 minutes).
Remove the prawns from the pan and allow to cool just a little, then chop into small pieces.
Add the prawns to the bowl, plus the fish sauce and lime juice, and now add most of the toasted coconut too, but leave a little back to garnish.
Stir it all together and check how it tastes - does it need anything else? A little more chilli, lime or fish sauce perhaps?
If not and you’re happy with it, spoon the prawn mixture into the lettuce leaves.
Garnish with the reserved coconut, peanuts and coriander, and add a few lime wedges to the plate in case anyone wants to squeeze more over.
I really hope you try and like this one - it’s going to be my summer party / suppers go-to I think!
