Prawn Popcorn Lettuce Cups
SERVES 4
INGREDIENTS
200g rice vermicelli noodles 250ml (1 cup) vegetable oil 500g fresh prawn meat, chopped into 1.5 cm pieces 250g rice flour 1 iceberg lettuce, leaves separated into “cups”
GINGER DRESSING 3 tbsp hoisin sauce 2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce Juice of 1 lime 1tbsp grated ginger
1 hot chilli, finely chopped (optional, if you
want to turn up the heat!)
SALAD
½ bunch of mint, leaves picked
½ bunch of coriander, leaves picked
100g soy bean sprouts
100g purple cabbage, shredded
60g toasted salted cashews, chopped
1 Lebanese cucumber, finely chopped
TEMPURA BATTER 200g tempura flour
300ml cold soda water
METHOD
1
To make the ginger dressing, mix together all the ingredients 2 in a small bowl.
Combine all the salad
3 ingredients in a large bowl. Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and stand for 5 minutes or until tender. Rinse with cold water,
4 then drain and set aside.
For the tempura batter, whisk together the flour and soda water with a fork until well combined. Don’t worry about
5 the lumps.
Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan over high heat until it’s smoking hot. Lightly dust the prawn pieces in rice flour, then place in a sieve and shake off the excess. Dip the prawn pieces into the cold tempura batter until
6 completely coated.
Working in batches, deep-fry the battered prawn pieces until they are a light popcorn colour and wonderfully crunchy. This should 7 only take 1 minute or so.
Remove and shake off any excess 8 oil, then drain on paper towel. Just before serving, combine the salad and noodles and toss through the dressing. Divide the prawn popcorn, noodles and salad among lettuce cups and serve.