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Cook the Book: Prawn and Rice Noodles, Chui Lee Luk's Last Supper

Posted by Adam Kuban, March 12, 2008 at 5:30 PM

My Last Supper takes the old "last bite on earth" game to the next level by asking that question of 50 of the world's best-known and most-loved chefs. Though beautifully photographed and almost more of a coffee-table book in size and format, there are some serious recipes in here to accompany the memorable visuals and fun interviews. As this week's featured Cook the Book entry, we'll be highlighting a recipe a day from it. Today's is by Chui Lee Luk, the chef-owner of Claude's in Sydney. Lee Luk describes her last meal: "Assuming that I will be in good health and aware of the upcoming event, I would seek out the peace and comfort of familiar foods that have emotional meaning for me. I think I would have a meal of chili mud crab, braised tofu with prawn and pork, stir-fried snow pea leaf, and steamed rice, all followed by red bean pancakes with jasmine tea."

As is always the case with our Cook the Books, we're giving away a number of them this week. Enter to win My Last Supper »

Prawn and Rice Noodles

- serves 4 -
Adapted from My Last Supper by Melanie Dunea.

Ingredients

10 shallots
5 red chilies
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled
1 tablespoon shrimp paste (blachan), roasted in oven until dryish and crumbly
2 cups (475 ml) fresh coconut cream
1 cup (235 ml) coconut milk
3 tablespoons (40 grams) yellow beans, puréed (taucheong)
1/2 cup (120 ml) tamarind paste
7 ounces (200 grams) dried rice noodles (meehoon)
1 bunch garlic chives, roughly chopped
8 3/4 ounces (250 grams) bean sprouts, rinsed and cleaned with roots removed
1 red pepper, flesh shredded finely
12 medium green prawns, shelled and deveined

Procedure

1. Prepare the prawn and yellow bean sauce: In a food processor, grind the shallots, red chilies, garlic, and shrimp paste to a fine paste; set aside. Simmer the coconut cream in a large pan over medium heat until it begins to separate. Add the ground, aromatic mixture and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and the yellow bean puree and simmer for 2 more minutes, then add the tamarind. The sauce should be spicy hot, a little sour, sweet and salty.

2. Prepare the noodles: Blanch the rice noodles in boiling water until they are just soft. Drain and set aside. Heat the prepared sauce to a slow boil. Blanch the garlic chives, bean sprouts, and red pepper in separate batches in the prawn and yellow bean sauce until they are just soft. Combine the vegetables and rice noodles to form a cool salad.

3. Prepare the prawns: Bring the prawn and yellow bean sauce to a boil; poach until the prawns are pink and cooked through.

4. To serve, spoon the sauce over the prawns and serve with the noodle salad.

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Tags: Asian, books, Chui Lee Luk, cookbooks, My Last Supper, noodles, rice noodles, seafood, shrimp