Chilli coconut prawns with rice

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

500g fresh raw tiger prawns shelled with tails intact
2 cups long grain rice
3 spring onions diced finely
olive oil for cooking
2 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce
4 tablespoons of light soy sauce
1 clove of garlic crushed finely
2 tablespoons of lime juice
1 tablespoon of ginger paste
250mls coconut milk with 1/2 cup of water
1 teaspoon of sambal olek (only if you like extra heat, alter to your liking)
handful of snow peas or you can use beans chopped (as i used beans)
2 Mangoes sliced into long pieces

In a large bowl prepare the marinade - Sweet chilli, light soy sauce, garlic, ginger, lime juice.  Place the prawns into the marinade and leave for 20 minutes mixing occasionally.

Boil the rice in a separate pot for ten minutes and drain.

In a large stove top pot or casserole / tagine place some olive oil and the spring onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, then place the prawns in and marinade a little more oil.  Then you can place the coconut milk, sambal olek, snow peas or beans and mango and cook for around 10 minutes until prawns cooked and taste to check the heat is how you like.

Easy Paella

Preparation Time: ;10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves 6

olive oil for cooking
2 cups of fresh chicken stock  (a little extra may be required)
1 1/2 cups of white rice (i use long grain)
1 small red onion diced
1/2 small red capsicum chopped
3 pieces of bacon diced
1/4 teaspoon of saffron threads
1 garlic clove chopped finely
1/4 cup of chopped tomato
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup of peas
salt and pepper
1 chorizo thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of fresh parsley finely chopped
24 fresh raw tiger prawns (shelled and deveined)
1 chicken breast cut into cubes
100g white fish (i use rockling) diced
100g fresh calamari cut into fine rings

In a large bowl place the rice and the chicken stock with the saffron threads and stir a little then let it sit for ten minutes so the saffron starts to infuse into the rice.

Heat a little olive oil in a large fry pan or electric wok.  Add the diced chicken and cook for around 5 minutes or until cooked.  Place chicken aside in a covered bowl. Then cook the fish, calamari and prawns in a fry pan with a little oil for around 5 minutes until cooked and set aside in another bowl.

In your pan/wok add the bacon, capsicum, onion, cayenne, tomato, garlic and cook for 5 minutes until the onion is soft.  Then add the chorizo, peas, parsley and a little shake of salt and pepper.  Add the rice and saffron stock mixture and mix well.

Bring to the boil slowly and then reduce the heat to low simmering for around 10 minutes.  Add more stock if you need to so it cooks the rice.  Add the chicken, prawns, calamari and fish to the top of the rice and push down gently . Cook for another 3 - 5 minutes until the rice is tender.

Serve in bowls with extra parsley on top.

The freshest seafood make the best paella.  If you like mussels you can cook some in a little white wine and onion first and wait until they open. Discard any unopened ones.  Set aside the cooked mussel in the liquid and add to your rice at the part where you add the seafood.

Singapore noodles

Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

250g vermicelli
2 tablespoons of olive oil or vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons of madras curry paste or powder
2cm ginger peeled and grated
1 cup of chicken stock
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
10g of Porcini dried
1 tablespoon of sambal oelek
2 sticks of celery sliced and leaves reserved
2 long green chillies sliced
1 small roast chicken, cut into small pieces with no bones
1 red capsicum seeded and diced
6 shallots cut into 5cm pieces
1 cup of bean sprouts
400g cooked prawns, peeled and deveined, tails
1/4 cup of oyster sauce
300g  Chinese BBQ pork (if you can find it)


Place the vermicelli in a bowl and cover with boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside with a lid.

Heat some of the olive oil or vegetable oil in a frying pan and add the curry paste/powder, half the ginger and half the garlic.  Cook for two minutes.  Then add the soy, sambal oelek and the chicken stock. Bring to the boil for around 5 minutes.  Turn off heat then set aside.

Heat the rest of the olive oil in a fry pan over medium heat and add the other half of the garlic and ginger.  Then add mushrooms, celery, chillies and capsicum.  Cook for 5 minutes until softened then add the liquid curry mixture with the shallots and vermicelli.  Cook until mixture liquid absorbs a little then add in the bean sprouts, chicken pieces, pork and prawns.  Add the oyster sauce at the end and mix through.  Top with some celery leaves and serve.

Sesame seed barbecued prawns

serves 4 (2 skewers each)

8 skewers ( soak skewers in cold water for half hour before preparing)
large stainless steel bowl
24 prawns (3 per skewer)
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of sherry wine
1/2 lemon squeezed
2 garlic cloves crushed
2 sprigs of parsley chopped finely
Sesame seeds for coating after marinate part
Chopped square mango flesh
Limes quartered (3)
Lemons quartered (2)




Place prawns into sink and take off head and body shell leaving tail end shell. Try to de-vein as much as possible.

Place prawns into a large bowl set aside.

In large stainless steel bowl place the soy sauce, sherry wine, lemon juice, garlic clove, parsley and sugar then the prawns.  Stir through and place in fridge for 30 minutes only.

Take out of fridge after the 30 minutes and skewer 3 on each skewer with a piece of lime, mango and  lemon in between.  Roll them in the sesame seeds.  Barbeque for around 3 minutes on hot.

Delicious with extra lemon and lime quarters or mango slices.

Simple Prawn Cocktail

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

1 kg Cooked Prawns (freshest available)
2 avocados cut in quarters
Cos lettuce leaves separated
4 spring onions diced in to small lengths
2 limes cut in quarters
2 lemons cut in quarters


Place the lettuce on the base of the platter.  Then place the fresh water drained prawns on top with other ingredients.

So easy and so low fat and healthy!

The optional dressing used was Lemon and Lime Agrumato Poppyseed Dressing which is made in Yarrawonga Australia by "Rich Glen"   see www.richglenoliveoil.com  for their range of recipe ideas

Lemon and thyme quinoa with prawns and avocado

  Serves 2
  Preparation  and Cooking Time: 20 minutes


   1 1/4 cup of boiling water
   130g quinoa
    few leaves of thyme from garden
   1/2 lemon squeezed in a cup
   shake of pepper
   8 prawns cooked and set aside
   1/2 avocado diced into pieces


In a saucepan on slow heat place the water and quinoa, thyme and half the lemon juice and boil slowly for around 10 minutes.  Stir as it cooks and then turn heat off and place lid on the saucepan for 5 minutes to soak even more.

Then making sure prawns are cooked properly add them and stir through.  Then add the avocado slices and the remaining lemon over the top, shake some pepper and serve in a bowl.

Prawn and vermicelli Laksa

Serves 4
Preparation and Cooking Time:

For your Laksa paste :

1 small red mini hot chilli chopped finely
1 clove of garlic
1cm piece of fresh ginger
very small amount of coriander (optional)
1 teaspoon of tumeric powder
very tiny shake of cumin powder
handful of spring onion chopped
Splash of oil or butter (melted) to blend it together

Place all these ingredients into a food processor and blend into a paste.

Other ingredients :

400g prawns cooked
500ml fish stock (premium)
400ml coconut milk
handful of bean sprouts
Vermicelli noodles (half pack approx)
1 finely chopped red mini chilli
butter for cooking
fish sauce (optional) to taste (use soy if no fish sauce)
1 teaspoon of sugar

Garnishing:
2 thinly sliced pieces of a little hot red chilli
1/2 cucumber seeded and finely sliced for garnishing in thin long strips
1 lime (slices for garnishing)
1 Sprig of coriander
3 spring onions chopped thinly ( just the white parts up to the light green section )

Soak the vermicelli noodles in a large pot of boiled water while preparing the laksa.

If you do not like your Laksa too spicy hot then take some of the chilli seeds out before cooking

To prepare your Laska :

In a large saucepan place some peanut oil  and add some of your red chilli.  Then add the paste you prepared first as above.  Then you can add the prawns. Then add the coconut milk. Stirring through then you can add some fish stock (1 cup first and a little  more if it looks a little low) .  Add bean shoots then the vermicelli on top.  Let sink down and add a little fish sauce to taste. Then add the sugar.

Place into deep individual bowls to serve and place garnishing as desired.