Thai Sweet and Sour Prawns – Pad Priew Waan Goong

Now I know most of us have ordered sweet and sour chicken or prawns from our local Chinese, and let’s face it, they are never usually that good but but have you ever had a Thai Sweet and Sour?

The first time I tried Pad Priew Waan Goong was at a beachfront restaurant on Lamai Beach, on the island of Koh Samui and it was fantastic. It was probably the fresh pineapple that made the big difference and of course prawns caught that morning and the blend of Thai spices and it came with straw mushrooms that I had never seen before and to be honest I was a bit nervous about what they were because the restautant had a big sign out the front advertising the fact that they had Magic mushrooms, something for smoking and something for snorting!

Anyway, this is my version of Pad Priew Waan Goong that I have used since my travels and it captures the flavour nicely taking me back to Lamai Beach! Usually I make this with nice fat juicy Tiger prawns, but you can also use chicken or pork.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  500g medium sized raw prawns, shelled and deveined
  100g fresh pineapple cut into 3cm dice
  1 green bell pepper cut into 3cm dice
  1 red bell pepper cut into 3cm dice
  1/4 cucumber, sliced
  6-8 baby corns, halved depending on size
  3 cloves of garlic, crushed
  1 medium onion, finely chopped
  1 tsp ground white pepper
  2 tsp salt
  3 tbsps lime juice
  2 tbsps rice wine or dry sherry
  2 tbsps tomato paste
  4 tbsps vegetable oil
  1 tbsp brown or palm sugar
  125ml water
  2 tbsps cornflour dissolved in 1 tbsp water
  A handful of chopped fresh coriander

Preparation method:

In a bowl season the prawns or other meat with the lime juice, salt, pepper and rice wine for about 5 minutes.

Heat the oil up in a wok and fry the onion for a couple of minutes then add the garlic and fry until golden then add the prawns or meat and fry for a couple of minutes if you are using meat you will need to fry for a bit longer. Add the peppers, baby corn, tomato paste, brown sugar and water and stir well and bring to a quick boil. Add the pineapple and cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Stir in the cornflour to thicken the sauce. Sprinkle over the fresh chopped coriander leaves and serve with some Jasmine rice!

Tip

Often when I cook this dish I use a few more veg to fill it out a bit. Some mangetout is nice and also mushroom and tomato. You can also use spring onion instead of regular onion and if you want to add a bit of a zing chop up a chili and fry with the garlic.

Enjoy!