Kerabu glass noodles with grilled prawns

Abby Lee kerabu prawn final
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In this fresh, spicy glass noodle salad from Abby Lee, chewy glass noodles are mixed with heaps of fresh herbs such as Vietnamese coriander and Thai basil, crunchy shallots and beansprouts, and a generous helping of sambal belacan. The whole dish is finished with kerisik (sweet, caramelised coconut), garlic oil and crispy grilled king prawns.

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First published in 2023

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Kerisik

Garlic oil

Sambal belacan

  • 12g of shrimp paste, belacan
  • 150g of red chillies, roughly chopped
  • 16g of calamansi juice, or regular lime juice
  • 16g of granulated sugar
  • 1 makrut lime leaves, middle rib removed

Method

1

Preheat the oven to 175°C/gas mark 3

2

Spread your shredded coconut evenly on a baking tray. Let caramelise in the oven, stirring regularly. This could take up to an hour depending on the size coconut you’ve bought. You want it to be a dark golden colour. Once it turns golden, add to a spice grinder and blend until nice and crumbly. This is called kerisik

3

To make the garlic oil, finely slice garlic on a mandolin or with a knife. Add the sliced garlic and vegetable oil to a pan and let it infuse and cook over the lowest heat setting until the garlic slices have just turned light golden brown. Switch off the heat and let cool before straining to get the lovely infused oil

4

For the sambal, ensure you’ve cut the belacan into a thick slice (2cm is preferable). Dry toast the belacan wrapped in aluminium foil on a pan over medium low heat, on both sides, for about 5-8 minutes. Blend all the sambal ingredients in a blender until smooth, then set it aside

  • 12g of shrimp paste, belacan
  • 150g of red chillies, roughly chopped
  • 16g of calamansi juice, or regular lime juice
  • 16g of granulated sugar
  • 1 makrut lime leaves, middle rib removed
5

Bring a pot of water to the boil. Add the soaked glass noodles and cook them for 2 minutes. Strain the noodles into cold water to stop them from cooking

6

Slice lime leaves, Vietnamese coriander, Thai basil, mint, lemongrass and shallots very finely to create your herb mix

7

In a big mixing bowl, add the glass noodles, herb mix, most of the kerisik, beansprouts, 30g garlic oil, 130g sambal, a squeeze of lime and a some salt to taste

8

You can now quickly grill your prawns. Heat up a pan or grill to medium high heat and add a drizzle of garlic oil to the pan. Grill prawns for 1 minute on each side until nicely caramelised but just slightly undercooked in the middle. They will keep cooking as you take them off the heat

  • 6 large king prawns, middle shell removed
9

Serve the kerabu topped with the grilled prawns, and drizzled with a little more garlic oil and sprinkled with the remaining kerisik

Abby Lee began her career predominantly cooking Italian food but after moving back to Malaysia during the coronavirus pandemic, began to learn more about the food she grew up eating and decided to pivot towards Malaysian cookery. She has since made a name for herself at her London restaurant Mambow, where her bold modern Malaysian dishes have gone down a storm.

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