Foodmanna: Prawn Cocktail with Mango and Avocado

The classic prawn cocktail is making a big comeback with celebrity chefs like Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsey and Nigel Slater all raving about this 1970s classic. While I love the combination of crunchy lettuce, succulent prawns mixed with a tangy sweet Marie Rose sauce - a fancy name for mayonnaise, ketchup and a dash of Tabasco sauce - I wanted to add an Asian twist to this old favorite. Hence, I added Thai sweet chili sauce (instead of Tabasco), a touch of Japanese mayo, Cilantro, Mango and Avocado to my Prawn Cocktail and it turned out to be a huge hit at our annual Christmas Eve Dinner! A great dish to have on any buffet table as you can prep all the various components ahead of time and assemble the dish just before the guest arrives. Easy Peasy... Recipe as follows

Recipe for Asian Prawn Cocktail (starter for 8-10 pax)

600g of blanched prawns

1 honey mango (chopped to small cubes)

2 avocado (chopped to small cubes)

1/2 cup classic mayo

1/8 cup of Japanese mayo

1/8 cup of tomato ketchup (or to taste)

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 tablespoon of Thai sweet chili sauce (more if you like it spicy)

1 tablespoon of finely chopped cilantro

A couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Salt, sugar and pepper to taste

A few teaspoon of milk to thin down the sauce

1. To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients together and adjust to taste

2. Finely slice the romaine lettuce and chop the mango and avocado (squeeze some lemon juice to prevent the avocado from turning brown) into small cubes

3. Add prawns to a pot of boiling salted water and wait for the water to come back to a boil before turning off the heat. Let the prawns continue cooking in the hot water for 3 minutes. Remove from water and strain. Peel prawns when they are cool

4. Lastly, the fun part! Layer the lettuce at the bottom of your serving glass, drizzle some cocktail sauce over and add the prawns. Add the mango and avocado and another layer of sauce. Serve cold.