Crispy zucchini flowers with plum-soy sauce

Serves 2  Prep time 40 minutes + 20 minutes rest time
Cook time 1 hour 20 minutes 

plum-soy sauce
100g plum sugar
50ml light soy sauce
30ml fresh lemon juice
2 chilli padi, finely sliced

• Steam plum sugar for 30 minutes. In the meantime, combine all the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat for 15 minutes.
• Stir melted plum sugar in the reduced soy sauce and mix well.

crispy tempura batter
80g plain flour
60g potato flour
2 tsp (8g) baking powder
1/2 tsp (3g) baking soda
100ml water
1 tbsp vegetable oil

• In a deep mixing bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together. Pour in water and stir well. Strain the mixture through a sieve to remove any lumps.
• Finally, add the vegetable oil and let rest for 20 minutes.

stuffed zucchini flowers
100g fresh prawns, cleaned and shelled
pinch salt
10g flower mushrooms, minced
10g fresh water chestnuts, minced
2 stalks Chinese parsley, finely chopped
160g zucchini flowers
plain flour, for sprinkling
vegetable oil, for deep-frying

• In a food processor or electric blender, blend prawns into a fine paste. Season with a pinch of salt.
• Add minced flower mushrooms, chestnuts and chopped Chinese parsley. Stir well to combine.
• Transfer prawn paste mixture to a piping bag and snip off the end. Carefully open each zucchini flower, discard stamens and fill each flower with piped prawn paste. Gently twist the petals together to seal filling.
• Gently dust zucchini flowers with flour and coat them generously with batter.
• Heat vegetable oil in a wok to 160-180°C and deep-fry the zucchini flowers till golden brown. Drain excess oil on paper towels, then serve with plum-soy sauce on the side.

Excerpt from the January 2014 issue of epicure.

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