Blast From the Past Recipe

Prawn Stir Fry with Basil, Chilli & Lime served with Rice and a Spiced Cucumber Salad (Serves 4)

Because I’m always trying new recipes, the old ones often get overlooked. This is one of those recipes which I hadn’t made for sometime. Then, just recently I was chatting with a friend who was telling me of her plans for a casual dinner for friends (yes, even my conversations revolve around food!)… she said she was thinking of serving ‘Prawn Stir Fry’. As I’m always on the look out for new recipes I immediately asked which recipe, to which she replied ‘yours!!’. Of course, it’s not actually my recipe – we have Diana Henry to thank for that – but I had shared it back in 2020. How can we forget this recipe?!… With it’s fresh flavours it’s perfect for dinner on any May evening…

It’s super easy to cook, just prepare all the ingredients so they can be quickly thrown in the pan, ready to cook in minutes. The cucumber salad is an important accompaniment as its subtle spice gives the whole dish more depth. Start by preparing the rice, I like long grain or sticky white rice with this stir fry. Whilst the rice is cooking prepare the cucumber salad and all of the ingredients for the stir fry, then start cooking it just as the rice is cooked. If you are gluten free, use gluten free soy sauce for the cucumber salad. The recipe is taken from Diana Henry’s cookbook ‘How to Eat a Peach’, it is a beautiful book, the cover is textured like a peach skin!

*You can see the video of this dish being made by clicking on this link to my instagram page

Prawn Stir Fry with Basil, Chilli & Lime

350g raw, shelled king prawns (defrosted if frozen)

200g sugar snap peas

1 tablespoon groundnut oil

2 red chillies and 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced (use less according to taste)

4 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 tablespoons caster sugar

Juice of lime

20g basil leaves, picked

unsalted peanuts, chopped, to serve (optional)

1. Dry the prawns on kitchen roll – the drier they are, the better they fry.
2. Halve the sugar snap peas along their lengths, so that the peas peep out.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok, when hot, add the sugar snaps, fry for about 30 seconds.
4. Add the prawns, chillies and garlic, reduce the heat a little and cook until the prawns turn pink.
5. Add the fish sauce, sugar and lime, stir it all around until the sugar has dissolved, finally throw in the basil leaves.
6. Serve straight away with rice and the spiced cucumber salad (sprinkle with chopped peanuts if using).

Spiced Cucumber Salad

1 cucumber

2 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon of caster sugar

1-2 teaspoons mild chilli powder (according to your taste)

4 spring onions, finely sliced

2 teaspoons of sesame oil (optional)

Black sesame seeds (optional)

1. Cut the cucumber into wafer thin slices
2. Mix together the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and chilli powder in a bowl (depending on how spicy you would like it, you can add more or less chilli)
3. Toss the cucumber into the bowl along with the spring onions, and if using, also add the sesame oil and seeds.