Recipe: Lara Lee’s sambal prawns with coconut and cashews

Recipe from A Splash of Soy: Everyday Food from Asia by Lara Lee

(Image credit: Louise Hagger)

published 2 May 2023

This Indonesian-inspired recipe shows you how to use a handful of kitchen staples to create a spectacular dish bursting with warmth and salty sweetness, says Lara Lee. Good-quality frozen prawns are one of the greatest emergency freezer-raid ingredients, but you can make it vegan by replacing them with slices of marinated firm tofu, patted dry and pan-fried until golden.

Ingredients: serves four

25g desiccated coconut
flavourless cooking oil (sunflower, grapeseed or coconut)
20 medium raw prawns, peeled, tails on, defrosted
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed, or 2 tsp garlic paste
4 long red chillies, deseeded and finely diced
200g green beans, trimmed and cut into 5cm lengths diagonally
1 tbsp kecap manis
½ tsp coconut or brown sugar
large pinch of fine sea salt
60g roasted salted cashews

Method

Toast the coconut in a wok or large frying pan over a medium heat for about 2 minutes, shaking the pan frequently, until golden. Transfer the coconut to a plate.
Wipe out the pan and heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the prawns in a single layer and cook for 1-2 minutes each side, or until they are just cooked through.
Remove and set aside on a plate lined with kitchen paper.
Heat another tablespoon of oil in the wok or pan, still over a medium heat. Add the garlic and chillies and cook, stirring continuously, for 3-4 minutes, until the chillies have softened and are starting to wrinkle.
Add the green beans along with 1 tablespoon water, the kecap manis, sugar and salt. Cook for another 3 minutes or so, stirring regularly, until the green beans are just cooked through with a crunchy bite.
Stir in most of the toasted coconut and cashews, reserving a little of each for garnish, and return the prawns to the pan. Toss everything together.
Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle with the remaining coconut and cashews.

Recipe from A Splash of Soy: Everyday Food from Asia by Lara Lee, published by Bloomsbury at £22. Photography by Louise Hagger. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £17.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.

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