Ingredients
- 250 g jasmine rice
- 8 jumbo king prawns or scampi, about 400g in total
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- ½ tsp crushed black pepper
- vegetable oil, for pan-frying
- 1 sprig green kampot pepper or 12 fresh green kampot peppercorns
- 95 g diced ripe mango
- 1 tbsp shaved palm sugar (jaggery)
- 1 egg, beaten
- pickled vegetables, to serve
Spice paste
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 makrut (kaffir lime) leaves, finely sliced
- 2 tsp Cambodian chilli paste
- 1 tsp kroeung paste
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 2 red Asian shallots, finely chopped
- 250 ml coconut cream
- 1 tsp prahok (Cambodian fermented fish paste), or mam ruoc
Instructions
Place the rice in a saucepan with 450ml water and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over a medium–low heat for 16 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.
Remove from the heat and stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
Peel and devein the prawns, leaving the tail and head intact. Rub the prawns with the oyster sauce, pepper and a pinch of sea salt. Set aside.
To make the spice paste, add the vegetable oil to a hot frying pan. Add the lime leaves, chilli paste, kroeung paste, garlic and shallots and sauté over a medium heat until fragrant.
Add half of the coconut cream, stirring until red and orange colours develop. Add the remaining coconut cream and stir for a further minute.
Add the prahok, stir, then transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Wipe the pan clean and place back over a medium heat. When the pan is hot, add another tablespoon of vegetable oil, the kampot pepper sprig or peppercorns, the mango and palm sugar.
Stir until the mango starts to caramelise. Remove the mixture from the pan, wipe the pan clean and add a little more oil to it.
Add the prawns. Scoop out the orange butter inside the prawn heads, by angling the heads back from the bodies and scraping out the goo (called the 'tomalley'), into the pan.
Add the beaten egg, mixing everything together.
Return the mango to the pan, along with the steamed rice and cooked spice paste. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, and then remove from the heat.
Scoop the fried rice onto a plate. Arrange the prawns over the rice. Serve with pickled vegetables.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
