This Singaporean prawn, tomato and sweetcorn curry is a long-standing favourite, a go-to quick meal perfect when you get home late but want something good fast. Very fresh with its vegetables, lime and coconut flavours, it unapologetically packs a spicy punch. It's the perfect dish for those who like a little heat with their summers.
Singapore Sling
The first time I experienced this Singaporean prawn, tomato and sweetcorn curry was in Melbourne in the early 1990s. I tend to be a bit of a "chef whisperer". We'd eaten fairly late on a week night, so the chef joined us for a nightcap after a delicious meal. He told me he'd learned this recipe while working in an august hotel in Singapore—though others later told me it was typical of Kuala Lumpur. He told me that it was never on the hotel menu, but rather a dish learned from local colleagues who cooked it at home for their families. I think you already understand my disdain for "authenticity". If it works, it works. Though, in this case, I do like to think of it as a dish Singaporean chefs cooked at home on their days off. My dad would have approved.
This is one of those "curries" where, though the sauce definitely reduces, it should still remain fairly thin. You don't add it to rice, rather you add rice to it.
I'm doing it here with prawns, but even on the first menu I ever encountered it, you could opt for a chicken or chicken and prawn option. More about this below.
Similarly, this is a fairly hot dish with quite a high chilli count in this iteration. You can readily dial back the heat by using less chillies. And, while I'm including the "from scratch" spice mix recipe below, I have also found over the years that when using a good store-bought laksa paste—such as this one—with the additional chillies and other spices, it is almost indiscernible from the spice mix made from scratch. What's more, it will certainly reduce preparation time.
On the question of the rice, the first time I had this dish, it was served with coconut rice. It was very tasty, teetering on the edge of overkill given the significant presence of coconut in the curry itself. Thus, I tend to serve it with basmati rice cooked with a little turmeric. But, the choice is yours.
This recipe is for two to three adults. Do the quantity equations if you wish it other.
Shopping list
for the Singaporean prawn, tomato and sweetcorn curry
1 large brown onion, peeled, halved and sliced
Approx. 3 tbspns toasted sesame oil (or peanut oil)
Approx. 200g raw king prawns; peeled
1 large red bell pepper, cut vertically into slices
1 400g tin of coconut milk
The juice and pith of 1 fresh lime
1 vegetable stock cube (or chicken stock), diluted in approx. 500ml boiling water
4 or 5 large chestnut mushrooms, washed and sliced
4 or 5 large stalks of celery, washed and cut into fairly large pieces
5 or 6 baby sweetcorn, washed and cut into fairly large pieces
Approx. 200g whole fresh cherry tomatoes, washed
3 spring onions, chopped
3 tspns garlic & ginger paste
2 tbspns peanut butter
4 tspns minced red chillies
3 or 4 "Thai" hot red chillies; sliced — the skinny hot type
for the spice paste
6 dried long red chillies
1 tbspn peanut oil
2 lemongrass stalks, the white part only, chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tspn sweet paprika
½ tspn ground cumin
½ tspn turmeric
1 small brown onion, diced
3cm piece galangal, peeled, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tspns shrimp paste
Cooking Method
the spice paste
Make this first. You can do so days before and store, sealed in the fridge. It also freezes well. Alternatively, use about 4 tspns of a good store-bought laksa spice paste and add the other ingredients to the dish in the cooking process as needed
Using a handheld blender or food processor, blend all of the ingredients for the spice mix together until it forms a thick, rough paste. (Alternatively, use a store bought laksa paste)
the Singaporean prawn, tomato and sweetcorn curry
In a flat pan or wok, heat a little sesame oil on a medium-to-high heat. When hot, add half of the garlic & ginger paste and sizzle for a minute or so
Add half of the minced red chillies; stir in. Add the rinsed, drained raw king prawns shortly afterwards. Cook for 3 or 4mins, stirring until the prawns are cooked (but not overcooked) Then, remove from the heat, cover and rest
In a separate pot with a lid, heat the remainder of the sesame oil on a medium-to-high heat. When hot, add the remainder of the garlic & ginger paste and sizzle for a minute or so. Add the remainder of the minced red chillies and stir together. Sweat together for a few minutes, adding a dab of water if needed to prevent sticking
Add the onions and stir in; reduce to a medium heat. Cover the pot and allow the onions to sweat. Once the onions show signs of softening, add the red bell pepper and stir in. Re-cover and sweat for 5 or 6 more mins
Add the chestnut mushrooms with a touch more oil, if needed. When the mushrooms release liquid, re-cover and sweat these ingredients together for a further 5 to 6mins.
Add the juice and pith of ½ a lime. Allow the liquid to cook off until almost dry. Add the coconut milk and stir in. Almost immediately, begin adding the diluted vegetable stock, perhaps half of it. Add the chopped celery and bring the contents of the pot to a healthy boil. Boil for about 5 to 6mins
Add the baby sweetcorn pieces, the chopped Thai red chillies, peanut butter and the rest of the stock—it's fine if it's more akin to a soup than a sauce at this stage. Reduce the heat slightly, cover and simmer at a healthy bubble for a further 5 to 6mins
By now, there should be a change—your sauce, though still thin, should taste more integrated; more unified. If not, re-cover and simmer for a few more mins
Add the green parts of the chopped spring onion, the remaining lime juice and the whole tomatoes. Don't stir in. Re-cover and allow to simmer for another 5 or 6mins
Taste your sauce: if it's working, if it's changed into a unified entity, skip straight to the next step. Otherwise, stir, re-cover and simmer for a further 5mins or so
Stir the contents of the pot gently. As soon as the sauce is cooked, turn off the heat and add the prawns and all their juices from the frying pan to the top of the dish. Cover and allow this to all "rest" into the dish
Ensure you rice is cooked. Plate the "curry" and garnish with the "white parts" of the chopped spring onion. Once all elements of the dish are ready—for example, at least some of the tomatoes should be ruptured but you're not looking from them to be reduced in the mode of an Italian sauce—plate, and take to table.
Alternatives
This is a pescetartian dish by default. However, it can easily be turned vegan by simply not adding the prawns. Just increase the quantities of celery, tomatoes, mushrooms and baby sweetcorn.
For carnivores, a common iteration combines chicken with the prawns. Sauté skinless chicken breasts with the chillies i.e.treat in much the same way as the prawns in this recipe before adding back into the dish in the final stages.
Pairings
I've never had the time to get too sophisticated with this one. `As here, the (Indian) elephant in the room is that a lot of such spicy dishes are actually great with a fizzy cola on ice and a couple of slices of lime or lemon.Or, of course, beer.
The two wines that I have found to match best to date were a Viré-Clessé—nothing too fancy, merely the reputable output of the Belgian supermarket Delhaize—and a chenin blanc from the Simonsig Cultivar range. And, yes, I hold up my hands: I believe that chenin blanc is the grape best suited to grappling with fiercely spicy dishes; and I believe in the wines of Simonsig. Sorry, was I supposed to say something more than that?
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