Spicy Baked Prawns

4-6 persons

preparation 15 min

cooking 20 min

(Pepes Udang)

1 lemon grass sprig, white portion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 onion, chopped

2 candle nuts, dry roasted

1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds

10 g trassi

1/2 tsp salt

1 slice galangal, 1 cm

2 tsp sambal oelek

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp tamarind paste

sunflower or vegetable oil

500 g raw king prawns, peeled,

deveined

2 salam leaves

6 kaffir lime leaves

2 banana leaves, approx. 25 cm

(or aluminium foil)

Preheat the oven at 240 degrees celsius (electric).
Make a spice paste with the either a mortar & pestle or a food processor from the chopped white part of the lemon grass, garlic, onion, candle nuts, coriander, trassi, salt, galangal, sambal oelek, sugar and tamarind paste.
Pour a thin layer of oil in a wok and fry off the spice paste until it is aromatic and begins to colour and thicken.
Transfer the spice paste to a bowl, along with the kaffir lime and salam leaves, and mix the prawns through.
Lightly grease a banana leaf or a sheet of aluminium foil. Spoon half of the prawn mixture onto the middle of the sheet, making sure to include 3 of the kaffir lime leaves and a salam leaf in the mixture. Fold the sides in and over the filling to make a parcel. If using banana leaves secure the sides with toothpickes if necessary. Repeat for the second leaf/sheet and the remainder of the filling.
Place the parcels in the middle of the oven and turn the temperature down to 200 degrees celsius. Bake the pepes udang approximately 20 minutes or until the prawns are cooked through and juicy.