San Fran Prawns and Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients

For the salad:

1 large carrot

6 tablespoons dark soy sauce

4 tablespoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns, crushed

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

2 lemongrass, thinly sliced

1 small bunch of coriander, chopped

For the prawns:

1 litre vegetable oil for deep-frying

50g cornflour

1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns, crushed

2 oranges, 1 zested and both juiced

500g raw tiger prawns, shelled and de-veined

Sea salt

½ lotus root, peeled and thinly sliced

For the egg fried rice:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

200g cooked basmati rice, chilled

1 medium egg, beaten

2 spring onions, trimmed and sliced

2 tablespoons freshly chopped coriander

Method

For the salad, cut the carrot into long ribbons. Place the soy sauce, sugar, crushed peppercorns, chilli flakes and lemongrass in a pan and heat gently.

Cook until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce is syrupy. Add the carrot and coriander and toss everything together.

For the prawns, heat the vegetable oil in a deep fat fryer to 180C or in a deep heavy based saucepan until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns brown when dropped into it. Note–hot oil can be dangerous, do not leave it unattended.

Mix the cornflour, crushed peppercorns, orange zest and juice together in a bowl to make a paste. Dip the prawns into the mixture to coat each one, then deep fry in batches for 30 seconds until crisp and golden brown, and drain on kitchen paper.

Sprinkle with salt. In the same oil, deep fry the sliced lotus root for 1 minute until golden brown and drain on kitchen paper. Sprinkle with salt.

To make the egg fried rice, heat the oil in a non-stick wok then add the rice. Stir fry for 2–3 minutes until the rice has warmed through. Pour the egg into the pan and cook until crispy, stirring it into the rice as it cooks, then stir in the spring onions and coriander.

To serve, spoon the rice onto a plate and top with the prawns, lotus crisps and salad.