Banana blossom salad

Serves 1 Prep time 40 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes

250g banana blossom
600ml water
20ml lemon juice
Xml of oil
3 tiger prawns
500ml water
½ cup coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp chilli oil
1tsp chilli powder

garnish
1 tbsp fried garlic flakes
1 tbsp shallot flakes
1 tbsp chopped peanuts

• Peel off bracts (tough outer leaves) of banana blossom until leaves become too small to remove by hand. Remove pistils from florets. With a Japanese mandolin set to its thinnest cut, julienne the small leaves and florets.
• Soak the strips in a bowl of ice water with lemon juice for 30 minutes to prevent them from turning black.
• Remove banana blossom strips from ice water and shake off any remaining tiny buds. Rinse and drain.
• Deep-fry the banana blossom strips till they turn brown. In a pot of water, boil the prawns till they blush slightly or are cooked.
• Mix the coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chilli oil and chilli powder into a pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes till the coconut-based sauce thickens slightly.
• Portion the salad and prawns onto a plate, and drizzle with the coconut-based sauce. Garnish with fried garlic and shallot flakes, and chopped peanuts.

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