Sour orange curry with tiger prawns

Ingredients

• 300 g skinless barramundi fillet
• 15 dried red scud (bird’s eye) chillies
• 15 fresh red scud (bird’s eye) chillies
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp fresh turmeric
• 2 eschallots
• 2 tbsp fresh young galangal
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp shrimp paste
• 300 g green papaya
• 1½ litres boiling water
• 4 large raw black tiger prawns, deveined
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp palm sugar
• 2 tbsp tamarind water
• 1 lime, to serve
• Cooked jasmine rice, to serve

Instructions

1. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil over high heat. Boil the barramundi fillet for 10 minutes, then drain and allow to cool before using.
2. To make the curry paste, use a mortar and pestle to pound the fresh and dried chillies, garlic, turmeric, eschallots, galangal and salt into a fine paste. Add the shrimp paste and pound again to mix into the paste. Add the cooked barramundi fillet and pound until incorporated to the curry paste. Set aside until required.
3. To prepare the papaya, peel, halve and de-seed the fruit, then cut each half into three wedges and slice into irregular, bite-sized pieces, around 4 mm thick.
4. Pour 1 ½ litres boiling water into a large, heavy-based saucepan, then add the prepared curry paste and mix well to combine over medium-high heat. Add the sliced papaya to the pan and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until softened. While the papaya is cooking, butterfly the prawns by cutting down the back of the prawn, 4 mm deep, but not completely cutting through.
5. Season the curry with the fish sauce, palm sugar and tamarind water, then stir through the prawns. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1-2 minutes, or until the prawns are just cooked. Remove from the heat and stir through the lime juice, to taste. Serve the sour orange curry with tiger prawns with hot rice.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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