Prawn Bun Cha
Serves 2 as a main course
Takes 40 minutes + 2 hours standing time
A delicious creation, robust, yet classy, this is a Japanese take on a Vietnamese dish. Ideally both the prawn patty mix and the dipping sauce should be prepared a couple of hours in advance to let the flavours meld together.
For the prawn patties:-
200g raw prawns, shell off
1 tbsp coriander leaves and stems, chopped
3cm sq fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 dsp chives, snipped
1 lemongrass stalk, outer layer discarded and then roughly chopped
½ red birdseye chilli roughly chopped (reserve the other half for the sauce)
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
groundnut oil to fry
Dipping sauce:-
2 tsp agave syrup
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
juice of ½ lime
1 tbsp finely chopped chives
½ very finely chopped birdseye chilli
For the salad:-
1 carrot, peeled, and cut or spiralised into 4-5mm long thin strips
½ cucumber, skinned, cut in half and watery core removed, then cut diagonally into 3-4 mm slices
200g dark leaves mixture – ideally a combination of tat soi, mizuna, and/or baby spinach
1 dstspn black sesame seeds
130g noodles – we use Japanese udon noodle or wide ribbon rice noodles
Put all the patty ingredients into a blender and whizz until very smooth. Pop in the fridge to set a little
Then make the dipping sauce by mixing all the ingredients together. Check the flavour balance – you may need a little more sweet or sour. The fish sauce is meant to sit in the background
Fifteen minutes before you are ready to serve, cook the noodles. When cooked rinse briefly with cold water. Divide the noodles between 2 large bowls, and sprinkle over a teaspoon of the dipping sauce. Top with the leaves, carrots and cucumber and sprinkle with the sesame seeds, and sprinkle with a further teaspoon of dipping sauce
Heat a frying pan on a medium heat. Spoon tablespoons of the patty mixture directly into the pan, flattening you go – they end up being about 7 cm in diameter and 1 – 1.5 cm thick. Cook for three minutes on each side, until golden. Cut through a patty to ensure that they are cooked through. Remove and place on top of the salad.
Serve immediately with the remaining dipping sauce on the side