Aromatic and smoky, these grilled prawn skewers are a must-try! — Pictures by CK Lim
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 — Sometimes you just feel like having a quick bite. This was the case some weeks ago when my friend and I finished our dinner in Sri Petaling but were still feeling the munchies.
Thank goodness for hawker stalls. We dropped by a corner coffee shop that was bustling (apparently it does its best business at the wee hours of night) and decided the satay was the way to go.
The friendly satay vendor recommended a mix of chicken, beef and lamb. The lamb was the best by far, but it hit me that he didn’t have any seafood options. Squid or shrimp would be great on the grill but perhaps seafood satay isn’t as common as it ought to be.
Fast forward to the present and I have some fresh prawns in my kitchen. This is as good a time as any to try the satay approach: grill the prawns on skewers and prepare a peanut sauce on the side for dipping.
But why be conventional? How about adding some cilantro and gula Melaka to the ingredient list and see what we conjure up?
Fortune favours the bold: Aromatic and smoky, these grilled prawn skewers are a must-try! Trust me, seafood satay has never tasted better.
GRILLED PRAWN SKEWERS WITH CILANTRO & GULA MELAKA PEANUT SAUCE
These grilled prawn skewers are simply seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, partly because they are accompanied by a flavourful peanut sauce (more on that later).
Which is not to say the prawn skewers are plain by any means. By using lemongrass stalks rather than bamboo sticks as skewers, we infuse the grilled prawns with an added layer of aromatics.
Use lemongrass stalks as skewers.
Some sauces include finely sliced lemongrass but I find that sometimes makes the sauce a bit too coarse. Hence the presence of lemongrass in the prawn skewers themselves ensures we don’t miss out on that specific fragrance.
For the sauce itself, peanut butter is essential, naturally. I prefer crunchy to smooth.
To add layers to this basic peanut sauce, I suggest cilantro leaves and red chillies. Finely sliced, these provide the "green and red” notes to the sauce. Fresh, pungent and spicy.
