Sweet & Sour King Prawns

Do your kids like ketchup?!

This fakeaway recipe is sweet, tangy, juicy and delicious, and uses a favourite childhood ingredient - ketchup. I've opted to use a lower sugar ketchup made in Ireland, called Mama Bear ketchup, but any standard or low sugar/salt ketchup will work. All in all, it makes a really fab easy dinner for the whole family.

As the name implies, this recipe is still very sweet but I've aimed to sweeten with juice rather than table sugar. If the sauce is too tangy for you, you can add a tsp or 2 of table sugar to sweeten it further.

You can use whatever vegetables you like in this recipe, either fresh or frozen. Quick cooking vegetables like strips of pepper, onion, baby corn, carrot ribbons and spring onions work particularly well. Sometimes I also add a drained can of water chestnuts and bamboo shoots, for that extra Chinese TakeAway vibe!

This recipe can easily be adapted to pork or chicken if prawns are not your thing. Just choose tender pieces of raw meat in bite size pieces, and fry until browned in a litle oil before adding sauce ingredients and simmering until fully cooked.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

300g Prawns, raw or cooked

400g Prepped Vegetables e.g. peppers, baby corn, spring onion, carrot strips etc.

1 Small Can Bamboo Shoots and / or Water Chestnuts, drained

2 tbsp Rapeseed Oil (or cooking oil of your choice)

For the Sweet & Sour Sauce

4 heaped tbsp Mama Bear Ketchup (or ketchup of your choice)

3 tbsp White Wine Vinegar

2 tsp Finely Chopped Fresh Ginger

1 Small Can Pineapple Chunks in Juice (drain but keep juice)

100ml Pineapple Juice (or Apple / Orange Juice)

2 tsp corn flour, mixed with 2 tsp cold water

To Serve: Cooked Basmati Rice

Method:

Heat 1tbsp oil in a large frying pan or wok over a medium to high heat. Add your vegetables and saute for 3-4 mins until beginning to soften. A little crunch in this recipe is good, so don't over cook the veg. Remove the veg from the pan, into a dish, and keep warm .

Heat the second tbsp of oil in the same pan over  a medium heat. If using raw prawns, add now and sautee for about 3 mins until they turn opaque. Measure in the ketchup, ginger, vinegar, juice and also the juice from the can of pineapple. Heat until bubbling, then quickly add the cornflour and water mixture and mix well. The sauce will thicken almost immediately. Continue to cook the sauce for a further 2 mins over a medium heat. If using cooked prawns, add them at this stage. Add back in the sauteed vegetables, pineapple chunks and bamboo shoots and water chestnuts (if using) and cook for another 2 mins until all are heated through.

Serve immediately with cooked basmati rice