Colm O'Gorman: King prawn in spicy tomato sauce with chorizo, fried chicken and creamy mash

King Prawn in Spicy Tomato Sauce with Chorizo, Fried Chicken and Creamy Mashed Potato

This is the fourth in a short series of recipes showing how to make a diverse range of dishes with a few core ingredients; king prawn or chicken, tomatoes, chilli, onion, garlic, and ginger, a few fresh herbs and spices and some other cupboard staples.

The previous three recipes were for a Goan King prawn Curry, Salt and Chilli Chicken and Linguine with King Prawn, Tomato and Chilli. All those recipes are available on ieFood. This week’s recipe, the final in the series, uses both chicken and prawn, with the addition of a little fried spicy chorizo. The prawns are cooked in a beautiful chilli and tomato sauce, then served over creamy mashed potato with the crispy chorizo and crispy golden strips of fried chicken on top. This is a spectacular plate of delicious comfort food.

I do not give a recipe for mashed potato; I imagine most people can manage that themselves. My tip for perfect mash is to bake rather than boil the potatoes. That makes the potatoes super fluffy and light, use rooster potatoes if possible. Melt a generous amount of butter in a pan, add some milk and warm that up, before scooping all the flesh from the baked potatoes into the pan. Add some flaky sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and mash thoroughly. If you have one, use a balloon whisk at the end to whisk the potatoes until they are super smooth.

King Prawn in Spicy Tomato Sauce with Chorizo, Fried Chicken and Creamy Mashed Potato

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

A big plate of comfort food with a spicy twist!

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 50 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 20 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 European

Ingredients

• King Prawns and Chorizo in Spicy Tomato Sauce:

• 100g spicy chorizo

• 1 medium onion

• 2 plump cloves garlic

• 2cm fresh ginger root

• 1 red chilli

• 1 tbsp tomato puree

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• ½ tsp dried oregano

• 1 tin cherry tomatoes

• 1 tsp flaky sea salt

• Fresh ground black pepper

• 200g raw king prawns

• 1 handful fresh parsley

• Juice of half a lemon

• Fried Chicken:

• 200g chicken breast mini fillets

• 1 egg

• 50g plain flour

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• Salt and ground black pepper to season

• 50g panko breadcrumbs

• 1 litre sunflower oil

• To Serve:

• Creamy mashed potatoes

• Fresh parsley

Method

1. Heat a heavy based pan over a high heat. Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and grate the garlic and ginger, you should have about a tablespoon of each. Wash and deseed the chilli, discarding the seeds and pith before finely chopping it. Finely slice the chorizo.

2. Fry the chorizo in the dry pan until it becomes golden and crispy. Remove it using a slotted spoon and set aside for now. There will be a decent amount of oil from the chorizo in the pan, so use that to fry the onion for a few minutes until it softens. Add a splash of olive oil if needed. Add the grated ginger and garlic and cook for another minute until they lose their raw smell. Add the chilli and cook for one more minute. Next, add the tomato paste, smoked paprika and oregano. Stir for a minute and add the tin of cherry or chopped tomatoes. Half fill the tin from the tomatoes with cold water and add that to the pan. Turn up the heat and stir well. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for fifteen minutes until the tomatoes break down a little and the sauce reduces and thickens.

3. While the sauce is cooking, prepare the chicken. To make nice thin strips of fried chicken, cut each mini fillet in half lengthways. Put the flour, some salt and pepper and the smoked paprika into a wide bowl and combine them together. Put the panko dried breadcrumbs in another bowl and whisk the egg together with a tablespoon of cold water in a third bowl. Arrange the bowls along your worktop and dip the chicken first in the flour, coating it thoroughly. Shake off any excess flour and then dip the chicken in the egg, again, coating it fully. Finally, roll the chicken in the breadcrumbs, pressing them in to ensure the fillet is well covered. Repeat until all the chicken is coated in breadcrumbs and set aside on a plate until you are ready to fry. Heat the oil in a large frying pan until it reaches 180 Celsius. If you do not have a probe thermometer to check the temperature, you can drop in a small cube of bread to see if the oil is hot enough to fry the chicken. The amount of time it takes for the bread to brown is a good indication of what temperature the oil is at. If is at 180 Celsius, the bread will take about 15 seconds to brown.

4. When the oil is at temperature, carefully drop in half of the chicken. Cook the chicken for two minutes and then remove it to drain on some kitchen paper. Repeat with the rest of the chicken and set aside for a few minutes while you get back to the sauce and prawns. You will fry the chicken twice to get it beautifully golden and crispy, so keep the oil at temperature.

5. By now your sauce should be ready. Add the lemon juice, stir that in and taste. Adjust the seasoning as needed. If you want more chilli heat, add some chilli flakes. Chop the fresh parsley and add it and the raw prawns to the sauce. Stir well to coat the prawns and cook them for just three minutes. While the prawns are cooking in the sauce, put all the chicken back in the hot oil and cook for another two minutes. Then remove it from the oil and drain it on some kitchen paper while you dish up the prawns and sauce.

6. Serve up the food on some warm plates or bowls. Place a generous serving of mashed potato in the bowl, then spoon over some of the prawns and sauce. Add the crispy chorizo slices and then some of the fried chicken. Finish with some more chopped fresh parsley and serve immediately.