These skewered king prawns have a delicious little kick to them

King Prawn Skewers with Papaya Nam Jim

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
wooden skewers
24 large green king prawns
olive oil, for drizzling
bunch of coriander (with roots intact), leaves picked, to serve
lime wedges, to serve

For the Papaya Nam Jim
2 garlic cloves
2 coriander roots, finely chopped
1 large green chilli, seeded and chopped
1 large red chilli, seeded and chopped
20ml fish sauce
40ml lime juice
3 shallots, finely chopped
2 tbsp grated palm sugar
¼ papaya, seeded and finely chopped

Method
First, make the nam jim. This can be prepared a couple of hours in advance.

Crush the garlic and coriander root in a mortar and pestle. Add the chilli and keep pounding. The more you pound, the hotter the nam jim!

Transfer to a large bowl and add the fish sauce, lime juice, shallots and palm sugar. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the papaya and toss to combine.

Soak the wooden skewers for about 10 minutes in cold water so they don’t burn on the grill or barbecue.

Remove the shells from the bodies of the prawns, leaving the tails intact. De-vein the prawns and thread them onto the skewers lengthways (one prawn per skewer). Sprinkle each of the prawn skewers with sea salt and drizzle with oil.

Grill the skewers on a very hot barbecue chargrill plate or grill for 2 minutes on each side or until cooked.

Serve the skewers on a large plate with fresh lime wedges and coriander leaves. Drizzle over the papaya nam jim or serve it on the side as a dipping sauce.

Extracted from The Farm Community by Emma & Tom Lane (Hardie Grant, approx €23). Photography © Alan Benson.