Whenever the weather is warm, Neil seems to think we should only eat cold food. I don't necessarily agree and am just as happy eating a warm or hot bowl of something in the evening, no matter how hot the weather is outside. The one exception to this was in Thailand, where I refused to order Tom Yum or Tom Ka soup, even though I was determined to try them, simply because I knew they would make me unfeasibly hot and grumpy.
On the opposite end of the scale, many people believe that if the weather is cold, eating a hot meal is more warming or nutritious. This is not true, according to a very accurate food based language activity I sometimes let my students work on, but I do think eating a steaming bowl of stew or casserole when the snow is falling outside, is definitely more comforting psychologically.
But, to please Neil and my desire for some noodles, I decided to make a semi-warm salad of fried shrimp, mango, cucumber and cashews.
I was under the impression that all beansprouts were ready to eat. Not so, apparently. The ones I bought yesterday had 'rinse and cook before eating' emblazoned on the side of the packet. Have I been labouring under a misapprehension all this time, jeopardizing my health for a crunchy shoot? I threw them into the boiling water which was already merrily softening the noodles and did notice a reduction in the chemical taste they sometimes have. Maybe something to consider every time.
For me, frying prawns really increases their sweetness, more so if a little Old Bay seasoning is sprinkled over which forms a crust both on the prawn and on the bottom of the pan, especially if it's an old one, like mine. The trick is to gather it with your wooden spoon and toss it on top, like an extra bonus bit of crispy flavouring. Sprinkling soy sauce over prawns also really intensifies the sweetness, as does any type of salt sprinkled onto foods with natural sweet elements. (A tip I learnt from 'Taste' by Sybil Kapoor. She suggests an experiment to illustrate this; halve a tomato, eat one half sprinkled with salt and one half without).
The peanut sauce recipe I first discovered in a Weight Watchers book is still the best I have ever eaten and I return to it again and again. Here I modified it slightly to be more of a dressing consistency than a dip, but it still hit all the right notes of sweet, nutty, tangy and salty. A winner.
Recipe: Cold shrimp and noodle salad with peanut dressing
1/2 cucumber, peeled and cut into small dice
1 mango, peeled, flesh cut into small dice
1 handful baby spinach leaves
4 shallots, sliced finely
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced finely
1/4 cup combination of finely chopped or minced fresh Thai or other basil leaves, cilantro and mint
1 pack of Shirataki or other noodles, boiled in salted water until soft, drained, rinsed and allowed to cool
1 cup beansprouts, blanched briefly in the noodle water while boiling and drained thoroughly
8 medium raw prawns
1/4 tsp Old Bay or other seasoning
1 handful cashew nuts, toasted lightly in a dry pan over medium heat
Peanut sauce
3 tbsp crunchy or smooth peanut butter
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp water
To serve:
2 tbsp fried onions (from Asian stores)
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
Mix the cucumber. mango, shallots, spinach, bell pepper, herbs, noodles and beansprouts together in a large bowl. Stir well to mix.
Heat 2 tsp oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the prawns and seasoning. Stir fry until pink, opaque and forming a nicely crisped crust in places. Remove and add to the bowl with the other ingredients.
Mix the dressing ingredients together in a bowl and stir well until mixed and incorporated. (The mixture seems to curdle at first, but will eventually emulsify).
Pour the dressing over the salad, stir well, sprinkle over the cashews, chili sauce and fried onions to serve, adding more chili sauce if you like it spicy.
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