AI-generated image
Tôm rim (caramelised prawns)
Tôm rim: prawns simmered in fish sauce and sugar until glossy
Tôm rim is a homely dish cooked in kitchens from Hanoi to the Mekong Delta and eaten at the family rice tray with boiled greens and a clear soup: prawns simmered down in fish sauce, sugar and shallot until the liquid turns to a sticky, salty-sweet glaze. The mistake is walking away in the last few minutes, when the sauce goes from glaze to burnt very quickly. Chef's tip: leave the shells on if your prawns are small, as many Vietnamese cooks do; they turn crisp and caramelised and add flavour.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 3
Ingredients
- 14 oz raw prawnsheads removed, deveined; shells on or off
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 ½ tbsp sugar
- 3 shallotsfinely chopped
- 2 garlic clovesfinely chopped
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ¼ cup water
- ½ tsp black peppercoarsely ground
- 1 red chilli (optional)sliced
- 1 spring onionsliced
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (4)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Mix 14 oz raw prawns with 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 ½ tbsp sugar, half of 1 ½ shallots and ½ tsp black pepper. Leave for 5 minutes in the fridge.
5 minStep 2: Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry 2 garlic cloves and the rest of 1 ½ shallots until golden.
2 minStep 3: Add the prawns with all their marinade and toss for 1 minute until they start to turn pink.
1 minStep 4: Pour in ¼ cup water, add 1 red chilli if using and simmer, stirring often, until the sauce reduces to a thick, dark, bubbling glaze that coats the prawns.
7 minStep 5: Check the prawns are pink and opaque all through, scatter with 1 spring onion and serve with rice.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 26 g
- Carbs
- 10 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tôm rim (caramelised prawns) take?
- About 20 minutes in total: 8 minutes to prepare and 12 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 3 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of fish sauce?
- Soy sauce with a squeeze of lime (vegetarian).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Moreton Bay bugsSlipper lobster with garlic butter
Moreton Bay bugs are the flat, shovel-nosed slipper lobsters caught off the Queensland coast around Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, and for Queenslanders they are a summer treat, split and grilled at the beach house. The tail meat is sweet and rich, somewhere between lobster and prawn. Buy them raw, frozen or fresh, from a fishmonger and ask them to halve them if you like. A common mistake is overcooking, which makes the meat rubbery; it is ready the moment it turns white. Chef's tip: grill flesh side down first to mark it, then turn and baste in the shell.
Australian
Caramelised clay-pot tofu and mushroomsBraised tofu and mushrooms
Kho is the slow braise of the Mekong Delta: food simmered in a little clay pot (nồi đất) with dark caramel and seasoning until the sauce is sticky and the flavours go deep. This vegetarian cousin of cá kho tộ (braised fish) uses golden tofu and meaty mushrooms in place of fish, cooked in coconut water, as cooks do in the south, and finished with plenty of black pepper. Serve it bubbling in its pot with steamed rice and a sour soup or plain boiled vegetables. Chef's tip: take the caramel (nước màu) to a deep mahogany, darker than you think, just before it smokes; pale caramel only tastes sweet, while dark caramel gives the bittersweet, smoky flavour of a real kho.
All i pebreEel and potato paprika stew
In El Palmar and the other villages around the Albufera lagoon south of Valencia, the restaurants that are famous for paella serve something older first: all i pebre, "garlic and pepper", a brick-red stew of lagoon eel and potatoes thickened with a pounded almond and fried-bread picada. It is rich, garlicky and gently hot, eaten with bread to mop up the sauce. Ask your fishmonger to skin and cut the eel, and handle it with gloves: raw eel blood is irritating, though harmless once cooked. If you can't find eel, monkfish or hake works well. A common mistake is letting the paprika burn; it turns bitter in seconds, so add it off the heat. Chef's tip: break the potatoes with a knife instead of cutting cleanly; the rough edges release starch and thicken the sauce.
Spanish