Kung Op Wun Sen (Baked Prawns and Mungbean Noodles)

Title: Kung Op Wun Sen (Baked Prawns and Mungbean Noodles)

Categories: Thai, Seafood, Ceideburg 2

Yield: 1 servings

1 lb Prawns

5 Coriander roots, crushed

1 tb Pepper corns

1 Onion, thinly sliced

3 sl Ginger, crushed

2 tb Cooking oil

1 tb Maggi sauce

1/4 ts Salt

1 tb Sugar

1 tb Oyster sauce

2 tb Light soy sauce

1 ts Sesame oil

1 tb Whiskey

2 c Mungbean noodles, soaked

-and cut into short lengths

Here's a goody that came out of my new Thai cookbook. It's easy and quick to do and quite tasty. It's a baked dish, which is unusual for Thai cooking. I suspect that originally, it would have been steamed.

Next time I'll try it that way or put a tablespoon of water or sherry

in each bowl. It seemed a tad dry to me. I cooked it in individual

French onion soup bowls with lids.

Place the oil in a wok, heat and stir fry the coriander root, ginger,

pepper and onion. When fragrant, remove from the wok and place in a

mixing bowl. Add the noodles, the sauces. salt, sugar, sesame oil and whiskey,

toss the noodles until well coated, and then add the prawns and toss

well once again.

Divide the noodles and prawns into four individual portions; place

each portion in a lidded cup, and close the lids. Place the cups on

460F until the prawns are done

minutes).

Serve hot with fresh vegetables, such as tomatoes and spring onions.

Serves four. From "The Elegant Taste of Thailand, Cha Am Cuisine" by Sisamon

Kongpan and Pinyo Srisawat. SLG Books, Berkeley and Hong Kong, 1989.

ISBN 0-943389-05-4.

If you can buy coriander bunches with the roots untrimmed you'll be

in good shape. If not, substitute stems. I left it out as the

person I was eating with doesn't like coriander at all. It doesn't

say to, but I cracked the peppercorns slightly before adding them to

the mix. By light soy sauce, they mean like in thin soy, rather than

as in "lite" soy sauce.

Maggi Sauce is a condiment sauce

originating in France, I believe

popular in Asia. It's somewhat like a slightly thick soy sauce. It

can be found in the gourmet sections of supermarkets as well as in

Asian markets. If I didn't have any, I'd use thick Chinese soy in

it's place. If you can find the Maggi Sauce grab it. It lasts

virtually forever in the fridge. Get a small bottle, though. I run

across very few recipes that call for it. It's used as a table

condiment in Asia and is often seen on the tables at Vietnamese

restaurants here in the States.

The mungbean noodles are the thin, clear "cellophane" noodles. I'd

have no qualms about using the similar thin rice noodles if I

couldn't find mungbean ones.

I picked up a neato garnish from the photo with this dish. It shows a

green onion "brush" with a slice of red pepper around the middle.

Quite attractive and easy to make. Cut a slice of scallion

the

whitish part

about an inch and a half long. Slice a fresh red chili

into quarter-inch slices. Take a length of scallion and push the

seeds and pulp out of the chili slice. Slip the rind down to the

middle of the piece of scallion, then cut the exposed pieces of

scallion with a thin, sharp blade all the way through. Make two cuts

vertically, then rotate the scallion and make two more cuts. Do both

ends, then toss the bundle into a bowl of water with lots of ice

cubes and the slit ends will curl up making a nice, tassley looking

garnish that's great to eat too. The trick is to get chilies that

are about the same diameter as the scallions so it's a snug fit.

Just toss a couple of the chilly, frilly scallions into each bowl

before serving. It's a little touch, but it adds a lot to the

appearance of the dish.

Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; July 23 1992.

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