This prawn, green peppercorn and grachai stir-fry recipe is a proper Thai stir-fry: hot, fragrant and really fresh tasting. The grachai (a wild ginger) really makes the dish. It gives a great earthy pepperyness, very different from regular fresh ginger. You can find grachai in the fresh section of Thai grocery stores, in Chinatown in London or online at theasiancookshop.co.uk. It lasts for a few weeks unpeeled, so if you see some, purchase it and store it in the fridge.
Ingredients
(serves 2-4)
For the paste:
4-5 bird’s eye chillies
3 cloves of peeled garlic or 3 spoons of Thai baby garlic cloves (no need to peel)
2-3 coriander roots
Pinch of fresh green peppercorns
2 sticks of peeled grachai
Pinch of salt
For the stir fry:
10 raw prawns, head on but shelled and deveined
3 long red chillies sliced at an angle
6-8 fingers of grachai – 8-10 spears, peeled and sliced thinly
Small handful of fresh green peppercorns, on the stalk
3 fresh kaffir lime leaves, frozen if fresh not available
A bunch of holy basil, otherwise use fresh Thai sweet basil leaves
1-2tbsp plain oil (sunflower or groundnut)
3tbsp fish sauce
Pinch of palm sugar
1tbsp good quality oyster sauce
A splash of chicken stock or water
Method
Pound the garlic, grachai, peppercorns, coriander roots and salt in a pestle and mortar to form a coarse paste.
Now pound in the chillies, smashing them but not completely making a paste.
Heat oil in wok, then add prawns and allow to colour for around 2 mins in a very hot wok or pan.
Add paste and fry to golden.
Add fish sauce, oyster sauce, then stock, grachai and peppercorns. Toss for 1-2 mins, add herbs, toss and serve.
This recipe has been created with Co-founder and Head Chef, Andy Oliver of award-winning restaurant Som Sa in partnership with Singha Beer.
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