Recipe by Chef Dennis Leslie
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1kg king prawns, cooked and peeled
500g squid, cleaned and cut into 1cm strips
½ cup whole dried medium red chillies
½ brown onion, finely sliced
1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced
½ bunch spring onion, the white finely sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 thumb of ginger, peeled and finely grated on microplane
4 tbsp chilli sambal, follow recipe below
¼ cup oyster sauce
1¼ cups water
½ bunch spring onion, finely sliced lengthways and placed in ice water to create spring onion curls
Ingredients – Chilli Sambal:
1 litre vegetable oil
5 brown onions, peeled and roughly cut into 2cm cubes
500g garlic, peeled
5 cups dried red chilli
1½ cups palm sugar powder
¾ cup oyster sauce
Method for the Chilli Sambal:
- Add the oil, onion and garlic to a small wok and turn the heat to medium-high.
- Cook the onions and garlic until slightly brown and soft, or for about 10 minutes, continually stirring.
- Scoop the onion and garlic out of the oil with a slotted spoon and place in a deep stainless steel bowl.
- Add the dried chilli to the hot oil and cook until it turns dark in colour.
- Drain with a slotted spoon and add to the garlic and onion.
- Purée with a hand blender, adding a little oil from the pan for moisture until the consistency is smooth.
- Add oyster sauce and palm sugar and blitz to mix through. Set aside.
Method for the Chilli Prawns and Calamari:
- Clean the wok, saving the oil used for cooking and reheat on high.
- Add back in about 2 tablespoons of the oil used for cooking and add the calamari. Cook until sealed and slightly browned then set aside. Heat up the wok again and a little more of the cooking oil.
- Add the dried chilli and cook until dark in colour.
- Add the onions and sauté until soft.
- Add the chilli and spring onions and sauté for 1 minute.
- Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for a further 2 minutes.
- Add the sambal and toss through.
- Add the oyster sauce and stir through, followed by the water and allow to simmer for about 30 seconds.
- Add the prawns and then add back the sealed calamari. Toss through until well coated and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Serve and garnish with spring onion curls.