These tasty Prawn Balls were cooked up at our Bali villa, by my friend Karen. A chef from Ireland, she works behind-the-scenes on various cooking shows – helping to create the beautiful dishes we see on tv.

We set up this little make-shift kitchen, just so that Karen could share her recipe with you all! They’re a breeze to make and impress on the table. Pair it with a simple dip and you’ll have a party appetizer that they’ll be begging you for the recipe!

The idea is to blend your prawns together with all the flavourings – the fresh herbs, the spices. It comes out like a thick mash, which you can then shape into balls and shallow fry in the pan.

In her kitchen, Karen would just peel and toss everything whole into a food processor, but out here its a bit more rustic…

The best part is that at home you can prep the balls ahead of time, and cook them up right before your guest arrive!

The ingredients are simple – for this version, Karen went with Asian flavours – chilli, coriander, mint, lemongrass…. it comes out so flavourful, but light and fresh at the same time.

The prawns can come from a bag, fresh or frozen it really doesn’t matter – but they must be raw so that they will bind together.

If you don’t like peeling, buy them ready-peeled – no one’s in your kitchen judging you. And if they do – they don’t get any prawn balls. Ha!

But, if you do peel them – Karan tells me that you can make a beautiful fish stock with your peelings! May be a worthy trade-off for the extra work.

Toss all the ingredients together, a bit of salt and pepper – and hit blend just until it comes together. You want a bit of texture, so stop when it’s mostly a paste, but with small pieces of prawn still whole.

You’ll end up with a gray mash – don’t worry! It will soon turn pink and golden on the pan.

Add a bit of flour to help it bind, and roll them out into generous bite-size balls.

A light dusting of flour over the balls will give it a nice crisp. Oh, how I love a good crisp!

Now you’re ready to cook, and make your kitchen smell like the tropics.

Can you see the little bits of prawn – it’s so tasty! The minute your prawn balls go golden brown, take them out and drain them over a few sheets of ktichen roll.

Now, here’s where we get chefy – go ahead and pluck a few leaves of mint and plate the prawn balls with a toothpick and bit of garnish.

How pretty is that! And so tasty – I promise you this dish will not disappoint. Here’s the recipe – give them a try and let me know what you think!

Prawn Ball Recipe

ingredients:

• 750 grams raw prawn
• 2 sticks lemongrass
• 2 mild red chili, de-seeded
• zest of one lime
• handful of fresh coriander
• handful of fresh mint
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 cm piece ginger peeled and grated
• salt & pepper
• 1 tablespoon flour

directions: 

• in a food processor or blender, add in all of the ingredients
• blend just until combined, like a thick paste. Leave small pieces of prawn to add texture
• form the balls by hand, it easier if your hands are wet so they wont stick
• dust lightly with flour
• fry with a groundnut oil or sunflower oil
• drain the balls over a kitchen roll to remove excess oil
• serve them up with a dipping suace

Prawn Ball Dipping Sauce:

• mix 2 parts sweet chili sauce with 1 part fish sauce. Just use the stuff from the bottle