Lemongrass Prawn Skewers (Takrite Goong)

Lemongrass Prawn Skewers are simple but decidedly delicious canapés that’ll have you wishing you’d made more! Lemongrass is the key player here, not only is it used in the prawn “balls”  but individual stalks of lemongrass also take the part of regular skewers. As the Takrite Goong is cooked (grilled, barbecued or even cooked on a griddle on the stove), the lemongrass skewers impart a delightful citrus and smoky flavour to the “meat”.

Quite often, these lemongrass prawn skewers, despite their name, are made with a combination of prawns, chicken and/or pork; economically, that makes perfect sense of course. That’s not to say, however, that the chicken and pork don’t lend themselves rather admirably to the whole ensemble! The dipping sauce is very user friendly, use ordinary vinegar if you haven’t got lime juice or rice vinegar and while I’ve kept it fairly simple here, you can add ginger, tiny pineapple pieces, etc., it’s very adaptable.

Ingredients for Lemongrass Prawn Skewers (makes about a dozen)

400g fresh prawns

2 cloves garlic

2 stalks lemongrass, bottom half, sliced in thin rings

2 lime leaves, middle vein removed

4 sprigs fresh coriander leaves

2 tsp fish sauce

quarter tsp ground pepper

Dipping Sauce

2 cloves garlic

200 ml rice vinegar OR lime juice

2 tsp fish sauce

4 tbsp caster sugar

1 -2 red bird’s eye chilli, sliced thinly, to taste

half cucumber, chopped in tiny pieces

4 sprigs coriander, with stalks

2 spring onions, green part, sliced thinly

Skewers

12 stalks lemongrass, top third cut off, cleaned

Method

1. Let’s make the dipping sauce. Place the first 5 ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. Leave aside to cool, adding the cucumber, coriander and spring onions just before serving.

2. To make the skewers themselves, place all ingredients into a chopper and pulse until everything is nicely minced and thoroughly mixed.

3. Divide the mixture up into equal sized balls, so the end result will be uniform.

4. Have a bowl of water at hand and with wet hands, take a ball and a lemongrass stalk. Flatten the ball in the palm of your hands, place the thicker end of the lemongrass in the middle and form the prawn paste into a ball around the lemongrass. See pic.

5. Repeat with the rest.

6. Grill, barbecue or cook on a griddle for about 5 minutes each side.

7. Serve hot with the dipping sauce.