Vietnamese Style Prawn Stir Fry

Bit Of A Hybrid

This recipe is a bit of a combination, ultimately it's a stir fry but with a slight hint towards a Vietnamese Pho minus the rice noodles. The sauce / soup has a very refreshing flavour and the bean sprouts and samphire add a delicate bite. The king prawns lend a meaty texture and flavour all of their own to this simple but delicious one pot meal.

To serve 2 people as a main.

Ingredients:

Zest of one Lime

Zest of one Lemon

Juice of 1/2 a Lime

Juice of 1/2 a Lemon

100ml Ginger Ale (make sure it's gluten free)

1 Teaspoon Honey

1 Level Teaspoon Sugar

2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce (I use Squid Brand)

1 Garlic Clove

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

100g Samphire

370g Bean Sprouts

12 King Prawns

2 Large Forestiere Mushrooms

Directions:

• Grate the lemon and lime zest into a bowl
• Halve the lemon and lime and squeeze the juice into the same bowl
• Mince the garlic clove into the bowl
• Add the honey, sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and ginger ale
• Mix until the honey is dissolved
• Prepare your king prawns
• Thickly slice the mushrooms then halve
• Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a wok on high
• Add the bean sprouts and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often

Bean Sprouts Softening

• Add the samphire, stir

Complimenting Textures

• Add the mushrooms, stir

Steamy

• Gradually add the liquid from the bowl and cook until bean sprouts and samphire are softened (10 minutes should do it), stir often
• Make room at the bottom of the wok so it's mainly just liquid (push ingredients to one side)
• Add the king prawns to the liquid
• Cook for 1 minute each side or until pink
• Serve

This is quite a healthy recipe for Free From G but it wasn't intended to be. When I first came up with the idea of combining bean sprouts and samphire for their complimenting textures, I didn't know where the recipe was going. This is a result of instincts guiding me to flavours that work and textures that blend.

I'd describe the liquid element of this dish as a very subtle sweet and sour flavour that has a slight zing with warming, comforting qualities. It's a lovely combination.

You may be wondering about the ginger ale. I wanted an element of ginger but without the kick, using fresh would have been too strong and as I was putting the sauce base together there just so happened to be a bottle of ginger ale on the counter. It was an obvious ingredient to use at that point, the balance proved to be perfect for this dish.

So that's my naturally gluten free prawn stir fry with a Vietnamese twist, easy, quick and full of flavour.