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.
Sign up for the Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Art that made the news in 2025The Explainer From a short-lived Banksy mural to an Egyptian statue dating back three millennia
-
7 recipes that meet you wherever you are during winterthe week recommends Low-key January and decadent holiday eating are all accounted for
-
Nine best TV shows of the yearThe Week Recommends From Adolescence to Amandaland
-
7 hot cocktails to warm you across all of winterthe week recommends Toddies, yes. But also booze-free atole and spiked hot chocolate.
-
Winter holidays in the snow and sunThe Week Recommends Escape the dark, cold days with the perfect getaway
-
8 new cookbooks begging to be put to good winter usethe week recommends Booze-free drinks, the magic versatility of breadcrumbs and Japanese one-pot cooking
-
How to make the most of chestnutsThe Week Recommends These versatile nuts have way more to offer than Nat King Cole ever let on
-
The best homes of the yearFeature Featuring a former helicopter engine repair workshop in Washington, D.C. and high-rise living in San Francisco
