Prawns with Sticky Rice and Papaya Pickle | Ottolenghi

I’m curious about Yotam Ottolenghi’s characterization: Vanilla butter and seafood are, to use a dating metaphor, a match made in heaven. Knowing that vanilla and ice cream is a magnificent match, does shrimp and vanilla (and rum) butter have the same magic? The prawns with sticky rice and papaya pickle recipe I read about at the Guardian is suggesting just that. The food pictures look amazing and it’s a perfect recipe for two on Valentine’s day. Based on that, I want to make the dish for a special birthday celebration for a seafood lover.

Prawns may be hard to come by, so I use raw peeled 11-15 shrimps in a pound. Shrimps might not present the same drama and visual impact like the larger prawns with heads and tails, unpeeled, but they are widely available.

I’ve found out that prawns are not just bigger shrimps, mostly found in freshwater. Scientifically speaking, they are distinct species. Furthermore, prawns have longer legs and usually have claws on three pairs of their legs. Next time, I know what to look for.

I notice that papayas are showing up everywhere: Costco, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. These are mostly from Mexico and have yellow flash rather than green. So, the yellow papaya shows up at the table instead.

Since I don’t have vanilla pods, from which you scrape out the vanilla seeds, vanilla extract is substituted for the pickled papaya and vanilla butter. With all the changes, does the dish still retain the essence of the dish? The exotic nature of the shrimps, sticky rice and papaya pickle comes through. On top of that, it’s not the everyday flavor we’re familiar with. So we savor each component with undivided attentiveness, interest and a sense of adventure.

We eat quietly without too many conversations. Could we be eating street foods at some faraway places? We keep eating and in the end, we’re smiling with a great deal of satisfaction. We like it a lot! Next time, we want to hunt for the real deal, the specified ingredients of prawns and green papaya and vanilla pods.

Print Recipe

Prawns in vanilla and rum butter with sticky rice and papaya pickle

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• FOR THE PAPAYA PICKLE:
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 40ml rice-wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp palm sugar, or dark brown sugar
• 1 vanilla pod, sliced horizontally and seeds scraped out
• Salt
• 220g papaya, peeled and julienned
• 40g spring onions (about 4), trimmed and thinly sliced at an angle
• 5-6 tbsp (20g) coriander leaves
• FOR THE STICKY RICE:
• 140g Thai sticky rice, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes, then drained
• 220ml boiling water
• 1½ tsp white sesame seeds, toasted
• 1½ tsp black sesame seeds, toasted
• FOR THE VANILLA BUTTER:
• 125g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp dark rum, or brandy
• 1 mild red chilli, thinly sliced
• 1 lime, zested, to get 1 tsp, and juiced, to get 1 tbsp
• 2 star anise
• 6 large raw shell-on prawns, (about 75g each)
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1

MAKE THE PAPAYA PICKLE: In a large, non-reactive bowl, mix the lime juice, rice-wine vinegar, palm sugar, a quarter of the vanilla seeds and a half-teaspoon of salt. Add the papaya, toss to coat and set aside.

2

MAKE THE RICE: Put the rice and boiling water in a small saucepan, and add half a teaspoon of salt. Cover, simmer gently for 15 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed, then remove from the heat and set aside, still covered.

3

INFUSE THE BUTTER: Put the butter, a tablespoon of rum, the remaining vanilla seeds and empty pod, chilli, lime and star anise in a large frying pan on a low heat. Mix gently with a wooden spoon to combine and melt, then turn off the heat and leave to infuse for at least 10 minutes, while you get on with the prawns. (If you want to get ahead, you can store the infused butter overnight, in which case you’ll need to melt it again over a gentle heat before using.)

4

PREPARE THE PRAWNS: Clean the prawns by making an incision in the back just below the head, then use the tip of the knife or a toothpick carefully to pull out the black “vein”.

5

COOK THE PRAWNS: Set a griddle pan on a high heat. Put the prawns in a bowl with two tablespoons of oil, half a teaspoon of salt and the remaining tablespoon of rum, and toss to combine. Once the grill is very hot, grill the prawns three at a time so as not to overcrowd the pan, cooking them for 90 seconds on each side until they turn pink. Add the cooked prawns to the vanilla butter and turn to coat. Repeat with the remaining prawns.

6

Arrange the grilled prawns on a large platter, and spoon over the butter, vanilla pod, chillies and star anise. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top of the rice, stir the spring onions and coriander into the pickle, and serve both alongside the prawns.

Notes

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/feb/06/yotam-ottolenghis-recipes-for-valentines-day-burnt-aubergine-feta-prawns-vanilla-butter-papaya-pickle-chocolate-coffee-tahini-mousse