Grilled Prawns with Lemongrass Sambal and Battle Rice
By Andrew Zimmern
In this episode of Wild Game Kitchen, I’m grilling two spectacular shrimp dishes. I’m starting with a twist on a Southern country club classic — skewers of jumbo ocean-caught shrimp wrapped around cubes of country ham, grilled and glazed with a sweet-hot pepper jelly. Then, inspired by my travels through Southeast Asia, I’m sharing a dish of grilled shrimp seasoned with turmeric and cinnamon, served alongside crispy “battle rice” — rounds Japanese short grain rice briefly charred on the grill and topped with sesame seeds. The dish is finished with a complex Malaysian sambal, loaded with lemongrass, shallots, chiles, fresh herbs, and aromatics; it strikes the perfect balance between sweet, sour, and spicy.
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Grilled Prawns with Lemongrass Sambal
Ingredients
Grilled Prawns
- 2 pounds wild caught shrimp or prawns, such as carabineiros
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup peanut oil
Sambal
- 10 dried whole pasilla, guajillo, California or New Mexico chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 3 cups boiling water
- 5 fresh Thai chiles, chopped
- 4 stalks lemongrass, cleaned and thinly sliced
- 5 shallots, chopped
- 8 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil
- 1 cup ketchup
- 3/4 cup white vinegar
- 7 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 1 cup cooked peas
- 20 mint leaves
Battle Rice
- 3 cups cooked and cooled Japanese short grain rice
- Salt
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Oil
Instructions
Prepare a grill for medium-high direct heat cooking.
Prep the shrimp: split the shrimp leaving the shells and heads on. Remove the vein. Toss with the salt, turmeric, cinnamon and peanut oil. Set aside.
Make the sambal:
Place the dried chiles into a cup of boiling water and refresh for 30 minutes. Drain and puree with the Thai chiles, lemongrass, shallot, garlic and oil in a food processor. Set aside.
Preheat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add a bit of oil and then fry the aromatic paste in the skillet until fragrant and browned, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the ketchup, vinegar, and the sugar. Cook, stirring, for a minute. Add the carrots. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the peas and mint. Stir to heat through.
Meanwhile, grill the shrimp until just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Serve with the battle rice and the sambal.
To make the rice:
Take several metal ring molds (round dough cutters work well) 3 to 5 inches in diameter (or larger if preferred) and rub with cooking oil on the inside. Stuff the molds with rice. Brush with a neutral oil, season with salt and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Grill well on both sides until charred. Slide rice out of molds. Serve with the grilled shrimp and sauce.
