Serves 10
For the sauce:
• 1½ cups palm sugar
• 1 cup lime juice
• 1½ cups mandarin juice
• a sizeable pinch of galangal powder
• a delicate pinch of mandarin powder
• a large pinch of toasted chilli powder
• 2 tablespoons deep-fried garlic
• 2 – 4 tablespoons fish sauce
For the herbs:
• 1 cup sliced peeled Thai garlic
• 1 cup sliced red shallots
• ½ cup shredded wild ginger
• 1 cup shredded young ginger
• 1 cup shredded green mango
• 1 cup pineapple, sliced
• ½ cup shredded star fruit, sliced
• 1 cup chopped sour leaves
• 1 cup Asian (Thai) basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons mandarin zest
• 40 cleaned prawns, blanched – more depending on their size
To finish:
• 2 cups coconut cream
• coarse dried prawns
Method
1 Combine all the ingredients for the sauce and stir until the sugars have dissolved.
2 Prepare all the herbs and blanch the cleaned prawns.
3 Combine all of the above, then mix in the coconut cream.
4 Serve sprinkled with dried prawns.
Recipe courtesy of David Thompson. Try this recipe (and others) courtesy of David himself on-board the Aqua Mekong cruise, where David is Consulting Chef. Two limited edition 4-night itineraries are now available for 2019: 16-20 August and 13-17 September 2019 – with customised market tours and cooking classes led by David. More details here.