So, my friends at Burleigh Brewing Company on the Gold Coast invited me to come up with an Ultimate Summer Food Pairing for their new Gold Medal Winning brew, Twisted Palm. They generously sent me a sample to try and to really set the tone, I set my thoughts to tropical beaches, a light summer breeze and swaying Pandanus palms and then I took a swig ………. (audible aaaaaahhhh). After reading the blurb on the back of the bottle I totally understood the orange, papaya and mango flavours of this beer so I set my thoughts to this:
Chargrilled tortillas with a fresh Asian inspired slaw, topped with spicy, green curry prawn fritters and a cooling mango salsa. It sounded pretty good to the Test Kitchen Dummies so I set about creating it. Every mouthful was a sensation and not least, the swigs of beer that washed the dish down, enhancing the flavours and cleansing the palate after every delicious mouthful. It was a match made in Beer & Food Heaven.
These would be perfect for a lazy weekend gathering with your chums. Great food, some chilled tunes and don’t forget the beer! Check it and the Burleigh Brewing range of award winning beers at:
http://burleighbrewing.com.au/our-beer/
Prep time: 40 Minutes Cooking time: 20 Minutes $$ Medium Budget
Serves 6 (double or triple for a crowd)
Peanut oil for frying (veg will do)
12 wheat tortillas
500gm of green prawn meat
2 tbs of green curry paste (check the link at the bottom of the page for Em’s cracking curry paste)
1 egg
1 tbs of fish sauce
6 coriander stems, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely sliced (end green parts reserved for garnish)
Lime wedges to serve
For the slaw:
8 wombok cabbage leaves, washed and finely shredded
2 cups of bean shoots
1 cup of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
2 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
1/4 cup of coconut cream
1 tbs of fish sauce
Juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tsp of caster sugar
For the salsa:
2 ripe mangoes, cheeks cut off and finely diced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
3 coriander stems and leaves, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
To make the slaw, place the cabbage, bean shoots, coriander and spring onion in a large bowl and toss with your hands to combine. To really make it super crunchy, cover it with cold water and place in the fridge for an hour. Drain well before serving.
Place the coconut cream, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside for later use and don’t dress the slaw until just before serving.
Place the chopped mango in a bowl with the chilli and coriander and squeeze over the lime. Stir to combine and set aside for later.
Place the prawn meat in a food processor and process until they are nice and pasty. It doesn’t matter if there are a few larger chunks. Scoop the prawn meat out with a spatula and place in a large bowl. Add the egg, curry paste, spring onions and coriander stems in the bowl and use the spatula to combine the mixture.
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Heat a large heavy based pan and cover the bottom with oil. Use a teaspoon to scoop up a bite sized portion of the prawn mixture and scrape the spoon with your finger, allowing the prawn meat to gently drop into the oil. Gently press them with your finger to flatten them and turn after 2-3 minutes or when golden and crispy. Repeat with the rest of the mixture (you will need to do this in batches) and be careful not to burn yourself.
Place the cooked prawn bites on a lined baking tray and place in the oven to keep warm. You could definitely cook these on a barbecue plate, just make sure it is well oiled and nice and hot to prevent sticking.
Heat a BBQ grill until smoking hot and cook the tortillas for 20-30 seconds on each side or until lightly charred.
To assemble, dress the slaw and place a generous portion on the tortilla. Top with a few prawn fritters and a scoop of the mango salsa. Knock the top off a Twisted Palm and tuck in.