Sesame prawns with sour mango & cucumber salad* (serves 4 as a starter)

Sesame prawns with sour mango & cucumber salad*
(serves 4 as a starter)
about 500 g of prawns (unpeeled, never frozen)
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 egg whites (lighty beaten)
4 tbsp flour
3 tbsp white sesame seeds
2 tbsp black sesame seeds
3 tbsp white breadcrumbs (or Panko)
oil for frying

For the Nuoc Cham**
5 cloves garlic
5 large chillies
50 ml fish sauce
100 ml water
50 ml rice vinegar
50 g superfine caster sugar
50 ml freshly squeezed lime juice (original uses lemon juice)

For the salad
1 sour green mango***
1 cucumber
1 big bunch of rocket leaves (rucola)
1 large red chile
1 handful coriander/cilantro leaves (optional)
1 handful mint leaves (optional)

First, prepare the prawns. This is the fiddliest bit of the recipe by a long way, so do allow enough time.
Take off the head, then peel the shell all the way to the tail, leaving the tail end on (I remove everything except the "fins" or "uropods" - check here for the anatomy of a prawn - but it's less fiddly if you leave the last abdominal segment on as well). With a sharp knife, cut along the back of the prawn to reveal and pull out the intestinal sack. Now cut a slit through the middle of the body to leave a small hole, but the top and bottom remaining intact - just enough to stick your finger through. Going with the natural curve of the prawn, pull the top through the slit to give the prawn a "knotted" appearance. Store in a container in the fridge until ready to cook them.

Now, prepare the Nuoc Cham. Peel and finely chop the garlic, finely slice or dice the chile (removing seeds and membranes first if you prefer it less spicy). In a pan on the stove, combine all the ingredients and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

For the salad, peel the mango, wash the cucumber. Julienne (= cut into very thin strips, you could use a mandolin to do this for you, if you own one) the flesh of the mango and the cucumber (skin on). Combine in a bowl, adding the rocket leaves. When ready to serve, dress with 4 or 5 tablespoons of the Nuoc Cham and reserve the remainder for dipping.

To make the batter, whisk together the flour, egg whites and soy sauce in a bowl until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and sesame seeds.

To fry the prawns, I like to minimise the amount of oil used, so I don't use my deed-fryer (I should probably get rid of it, as I never use it...). I take a milk pan (stainless steel pot with a handle) of about 15cm in diameter, pour in enough oil for the prawns to be able to float once in the pan and heat it up.

While the oil is heating, pull the prawns gently through the batter, holding them by their tails. Then dip in the breadcrumb & sesame until evenly coated and set aside.

When the oil is piping hot, fry the prawns in batches - place some prawns in the pot, gently moving them so they don't stick together. They should need no more than a minute to be crispy on the outside, but only just cooked and still very juicy on the inside. Make sure your oil is really super hot and don't overcrowd the pot, to ensure the prawns get enough heat to really cook in this short amount of time. Place the prawns on kitchen roll to absorb excess fat.

Serve the prawns on the salad, with some Nuoc Cham on the side for dipping.

* Original recipe can be found in Mark Read's "Lemongrass and Lime", a must-buy if you enjoy modern Vietnamese cooking.