Moqueca de Peixe

I've only really tried making Brazilian cuisine once before, but have certainly noticed as trend in Brazilian food for fresh tangy flavours, almost always incorporating lime. This prawn stew is no exception, and leans closely on the Asian flavors that i adore (coconut, chilli, etc).

Tarator with Radish & Tiger Prawns

This dish comes from the wonderful Gourmet Traveller, filled with fancy delights and delicacies. I rarely cook from the Gourmet Traveller because the writers have little eye for expense, and recipes often include rare and costly ingredients, or laborious times in the kitchen. This fresh and decidedly summery recipe, thankfully, is so easy to make you could have it ready to serve within 15 minutes, if the ingredients are chilled. Tarator is a cold soup of Middle Eastern origins. My family turns their nose up at the idea of cold soup, but i think this one won them over. I mean, it's almost tzatziki!

On a side note, i'm loving dill at the moment!

Garlic Chilli Prawns on a Fennel & Orange Salad

Finally, the hot weather has come to Melbourne and it's the perfect season for prawns on the barbeque!The warmth and slight charred flavour of these prawns pairs well with the slightly aniseed freshness of the orange and fennel salad. It seems to have been a match made in heaven, orange and fennel, as when i was researching fennel salads the vast majority included a citrus fruit. And it does work well!

A note on fennel: i prefer raw fennel to be sliced incredibly finely, so you could use a peeler or a very good quality mandolin to get the best from your fennel. Bewarned though, it oxidizes quite quickly, so if you won't be serving the fennel very shortly after slicing it, dunk it into a bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon juice before setting it aside.

BBQ Assam Prawn

Yesterday in Australia it was Fathers' Day and this year, having moved back home with my parents to a much larger kitchen i was able to help cook a feast for dinner that day. I went for a Malaysian theme and with my mother providing a chicken satay and my sister providing a beef rendang (both of which were magnificent) i decided to try my hand at some Nonya cuisine, as well as the obligatory KL Hokkien Mee.

Assam prawn, from what i gather is a Nonya dish of tamarind and soy marinated shrimp, normally wok fried though sometimes there appears to be some variation in recipe. I decided to grill my prawns on the BBQ, considering the amazing size of the ones i managed to get my hands on!

The BBQing of the assam prawn had it's pro's and con's. The tamarind was much less present as the sauce was not made to cling to the prawn. On the other hand it made for a much drier dish, more perfect for the appetizer purpose i had for it. The sourness of the tamarind is tempered by the sugar and dissipates with the fiery breath of the grill.

Tom Rim (King Prawns sauteed with tomato, fish sauce and black pepper)

The other main that i decided upon for my little dinner party last night was Tom Rim, a Vietnamese dish that i found in one of my favorite cookbooks, Secrets of the Red Lantern. Tweaked a little to my tastes (though not the spice-fearing tastes of one of my guests, Darryl), these prawns are fresh, lively and have a warming linger of chilli heat.

Salt & Pepper Prawns

My father can spot cheap seafood from about 50 miles away. Asking him what he wanted for dinner that night, i made the (error?) of mentioning that i might cook something with prawns. Immediately he lit up, excitedly telling me about the sale on prawns down at the local supermarket.

Well, right he was, so i grabbed 20 of the things and set about making salt and pepper prawns. This dish, like all of the best prawn dishes, is elegantly simple, consisting of just salt, pepper and cornflour. However the dry, crisp prawns marry so well with the salt and the heat of the pepper, making them absolutely delicious. If it wasn't for the quite salty Dan Dan Mian that i serve with this, i would have easily polished off the entire bowl.