Tempura Battered King Prawns with a Hot Pepper Paste Sauce.

The Taste. I didn't really know what to call this as it was just something I threw together after feeling inspired! Whatever you want to call it, it's darn tasty! Fat, juicy tempura battered king prawns in a hot pepper paste-based sauce with some veggies and drizzled with sesame oil, which adds a distinctive flavour. It's a lighter but still filling meal, if you wanted to add to it just pop some noodles or rice into the mix! So how do we do it? Click below to keep reading!

make sure your prawns are clean and sans shell and veins.

Other ingredients - onion, ginger, garlic. carrots, mushrooms, asparagus, spring/green onions, soy sauce & sesame oil (this is just for the sauce)

...and of course hot pepper paste (yum!) you can find this in asian supermarkets, it is sweet and spicy - not just some substitute for chillis so don't be afraid of it!

Tempura Batter: 85g plain flour, 1 tbsp cornflour, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 200ml ice-cold sparkling water - mix together in a bowl - DON'T over mix, a lumpy batter is better than over-mixed and smooth!

Chuck prawns into batter to coat and deep fry in either deep fat fryer or large pan filled with 3rd of veg oil (oil at least 8cm deep) *CAREFULLY!* until golden and crisp. To check whether your oil is ready, pop a little piece of bread in, it should brown within 20 secs. When done, leave prawns to drain on kitchen roll.

In frying pan fry thinly slices onion, garlic, carrot, ginger until soft.

Cut asparagus into thirds or quarters and add to frying pan for a coupe of mins then add mushrooms.

Then add soy sauce, I usually just do this freehand but probably around a tbsp and a half, and a couple of tbsps of the hot pepper paste, plus a bit of sea salt and pepper and make sure everything is mixed and coated!

Add the prawns to heat up and get mingled with the sauce!

Drizzle over some sesame oil...

Serve in a bowl and sprinkle over chopped spring onions, and if you have some - sesame seeds! (I didn't have any ): Voila! a tasty, tasty dish and great alternative to a takeaway. Also, I have a sneaking suspicion if you added in some sugar it would taste a bit more like a sweet and sour... if you like that!

If you make this, or a variation of this, enjoy and let me know!