Gung Che Num Pa : Raw Prawns with Thai Chillies

This dish is intense Thai food! We eat raw shelled shrimp by spooning on a mixture of chillies, garlic, mint and spring onions, a little fish sauce and lemon juice is sprinkled on, and the shrimp is eaten in one go (minus the tail which you bite off). Fish sauce has a strong taste, so does chilli, so does lemon juice, so does garlic, so does mint, and so does celery. Imagine all these strong tastes in one mouthful of fish, you can see why I call it intense food. It’s like a Thai version of Sushimi, but we eat it with chillies instead of wasabi.

Ingredients  for 2 People ( Meduim Hot )

• 8 Medium Sized Raw Prawns / Langostines
• 6 Bird Chillies
• 4 Garlic Cloves
• 2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

Garnishes

• 1 Tablespoon Sliced Celery
• A Few Mint Leaves
• 2 Slices of Lemon
• 2 Garlic Cloves Sliced Thinly.

Preparation

1. Clean and shell the prawns, cut them down the middle and flatten them.
2. Drizzle fish sauce over the prawns and keep in the fridge for 5 minutes to chill them.
3. Chop the chillies and 4 garlic cloves finely, and mix with the lemon juice and celery. You can see this mix in the background of the photograph, it’s the mixture you spoon onto the prawns.
4.  Onto a plate, serve the raw prawn, drizzled in the fish sauce, with the chilli/garlic mixture on one side, and the garnishes: the mint leaves, lemon slices, sliced garlic and chopped celery.
5. To eat, take a prawn in your hand, spoon on the mixture, add some mint, celery, sliced garlic and a squeeze of lemon. Place the whole thing in your mouth and bite off the tail. I told you it was intense!

Serve With
      Bitter Melon