Pininyahang hipon

Prawns with pineapple in coconut milk, where the acid is boiled down before the milk goes in.

Shellfish. Not vegetarian — contains fish sauce, shellfish.

Ingredients

700 g large prawns, shell on
400 g pineapple chunks, with 200 ml of their juice
300 ml coconut milk
40 g fresh ginger, in matchsticks
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, in strips
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons oil
4 siling labuyo
0.5 teaspoon black pepper

Method

BOIL THE PINEAPPLE JUICE DOWN BEFORE THE COCONUT MILK GOES IN. Pineapple juice is sharp and coconut milk splits against acid on contact. Reduced hard on its own first, the acid is blunted and the sugar concentrated, and the milk then goes in without curdling. The chicken version of this dish on the site solves the same problem differently, by marinating the meat in milk -- that will not work here because prawns are in the pan for three minutes.
Shells on. Snip down the back of each prawn and lift the vein out, leaving the shell. The sauce gets in and the shells give the dish its depth.
Fry the ginger, garlic and onion in the oil, 4 minutes.
Pineapple juice in and boiled HARD, uncovered, 6 to 8 minutes, until it has reduced by two thirds and gone syrupy.
Heat down. Coconut milk in, poured round the edge and stirred through. Fish sauce in. 6 minutes at a bare simmer.
Pineapple chunks in, 2 minutes, only to warm. Simmered longer they go to threads.
Heat up to a brisk simmer, prawns in, lid on, 3 minutes. Done when the shells have gone fully orange and the flesh has pulled away from them.
Bell pepper, chillies and pepper in at the end, off the heat, so the pepper keeps its colour.
Taste for fish sauce. It should be sweet, sharp and salty in that order.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Philippines · All recipes