Coconut and Ginger Crusted Prawns with Spicy Mango Dipping Sauce

I write this post, lying in the sun on our deck (which is nicely sheltered from Wellington's Northerly and Westerly winds), sipping iced tea, and soaking up my FREEDOM!

I mentioned in my last post that legal profs is now over! Not that I have my results back yet. That's another matter entirely. But for the time being, I can relish being (somewhat) responsibility free! It's still pretty difficult to lie around relaxing without feeling guilty I'm not studying though.

Hence the sunshine blogging.

I'd also like to take a moment to congratulate all you amazing people who got your Chartered Accountancy exam results back on Friday. Win or lose, you should all be so proud of getting through the year from hell, followed by a six hour exam. I can't even imagine how hard that must have been. I'll have a greater appreciation for it this time next year though!

So to celebrate our final profs assessment, on Friday afternoon, a bunch of the profs crew came over for sunshine drinks on a Friday afternoon (sans a couple of amazing girls who couldn't make it).

To celebrate, I whipped up some gin-spiked iced tea (affectionately named by Harriet as the "GIT"), and a little experiment - coconut crusted prawns, with a coconut milk and fresh ginger batter, sprinkled with unsweetened coconut thread, crisped up on the bbq, and served with a spicy mango dipping sauce.

I have two adjustments to make. Coriander and a little fish sauce in the dipping sauce. I've added these into the recipe, but the conspicuous absence of green coriander flecks will give away the fact that these were reflective changes.

Coconut and Ginger Crusted Prawns with Spicy Mango Dipping Sauce (Serves 6 people as a starter)


For the dipping sauce
1/2c mango chutney - I used a mango and peach chutney I found at the supermarket. 
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1/2t cayenne pepper
1/4t freshly grated ginger
1T fish sauce
1/4c coconut milk
2T finely chopped coriander leaves
Salt and pepper

For the Prawns
250g prawn cutlets, with the tail on - you want 4-5 prawns per person for a generous starter
1/2c coconut milk
1 egg
1/2c flour
2T freshly grated ginger
1/4c coconut milk
Salt and pepper
2c unsweetened coconut thread - it's important it's unsweetened. If you're not sure, check the back of the packet, and see if any sugar is listed in the ingredients.


Start by making the dipping sauce. Put the chutney in a small pot on a medium heat. Add the lime zest and juice, cayenne, ginger, and fish sauce. Bring up to a low simmer, stirring, just to heat through. Add the coconut milk, bring to the boil, and let it cook down for 3 minutes or so, stirring so it doesn't burn on the bottom.


Pour the makings of the sauce into a food processor, and blitz until smooth. Stir through the coriander. Season with salt and pepper.

Now make the batter for the prawns. Combine the coconut milk, ginger and egg in a bowl. Add as much of the flour as you need to make a thick batter. You want it of a consistency that it will create a nice coating for the prawns.

Pour the coconut thread into a wide, shallow bowl or plate. Get out a nice big tray to put the coated prawns on. Now you're going to dip the prawns in the batter, sprinkle them with coconut thread, and place them on the tray. But here's the trick: try not to get excess batter into the coconut thread, or it'll just end up one big mass of coconut glue, and it'll be pretty hard to keep coating the prawns (and not to mention, a big waste of coconut.

Here's how I do it:

• Firstly, you will have to nominate ONE hand for dipping, and ONE hand for sprinkling. Don't get batter on the sprinkling hand if you can help it.
• So, I use my dipping hand to hold a prawn by its tail, and dip it into the batter and get it nicely coated. I then shake it to get as much of the excess batter off as possible. Giving it a little tap in the side of the batter bowl will help.
• Then I hold the prawn over the coconut bowl, and using my non-battered hand, to sprinkle the coconut over. Sprinkling, rather than dipping the prawn in the coconut, helps to avoid the aforementioned gluey coconut mess.
• Then just pop the prawn on the tray.

Put the tray into the fridge until you're ready to cook them. They'll easily keep like that for a couple of hours.

Heat up the bbq's hot plate. You want a medium-high heat. Pour a glug of oil onto the hot plate - this will ensure they brown up nicely and get that deliciously crispy texture. Place the prawns on the hot plate, and fry for a minute or two on each side, until golden, and the tails are bright pink. Don't overcook them, or they'll go rubbery.

Serve with the dip, and enjoy!