Thai Red Curry Prawn Smash Tacos

Video

Recipe

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

It’s the best kind of chaos. And you all know I love a bit of cuisine chaos in the kitchen! Crispy like prawn toast, shaped like a taco, smashed like a burger and tweaked with a spicy Thai red curry flavour. Crunchy on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside. It’s like a prawn toast and a taco had a spicy, crunchy baby.

What’s the deal with the smash technique?

Smashing the taco gently while it cooks gives you even crispiness and that signature golden crust. It also ensures the filling cooks through and puffs up perfectly without being greasy.

Special Ingredient Notes

Using raw prawns (not pre-cooked!) is essential here. Frozen prawns that have been thawed overnight in the fridge are fine to use. Just make sure you dry them well with paper towel so that they don’t make the paste too ‘wet’.

Storage Tips

These are best served fresh and hot, but leftover tacos can be reheated in an air fryer or oven at 180°C for 5–6 minutes until crispy again. Store the herb salad separately.

What You Need

Raw prawns

Thai red curry paste

Fish sauce

Egg white

Sugar

Spring onion

Tortillas

Sesame seeds

Oil

Coconut sriracha

Coriander

Thai basil

Red chilli

Steps

Place the prawns, red curry paste, fish sauce, egg white, sugar and spring onion into a food processor. Blend until you’ve got a smooth, sticky mixture.

Lay out the tortillas and spoon the prawn mix into the centre of each one. Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to spread it out, leaving a little 1cm border around the edges. Sprinkle a generous amount of sesame seeds over the top.

Heat about 2 teaspoons of oil in

a large frying pan

over medium-low heat. Add 1–2 tacos (depending on your pan size), sesame side down, and gently

press

them with a spatula to “smash” slightly. Cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side or until the prawn mixture turns golden brown. Lower the heat a bit if it’s colouring too quickly. Flip and cook for another 2 minutes or until the tortilla is crisp and golden. Transfer to a wire rack and repeat with the rest.

Meanwhile, toss together the coriander, spring onion, pickled onion, Thai basil and red chilli in a small bowl to make a bright, fresh herb salad.

To serve, drizzle the warm tacos with

coconut sriracha

. Top with the herb salad. Fold them up to scrunch all that goodness into a taco shape. And enjoy!

Marion’s Tip

If you’re unsure, start on a lower heat when cooking the tacos rather than going too hot. You want the prawn mixture to cook through before the outside gets too brown.

Thai Red Curry Prawn Smash Tacos

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PREP TIME

15 minutes

COOK TIME

20 minutes

SERVES

Makes 4

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Ingredients

250g peeled raw prawns

1½ tablespoons

Marion’s Kitchen Thai Red Curry Paste

1½ teaspoons fish sauce

1 egg white

½ tsp sugar

1 spring onion, finely chopped

8 flour tortillas (approx. 15cm diameter)

¼ cup sesame seeds

Vegetable oil, for shallow frying

Marion’s Kitchen Coconut Sriracha

, to serve

Herb salad:

1 cup roughly chopped coriander (mix of stalks and leaves)

1 spring onion, cut into batons

¼ cup pickled red onion (store-bought is fine)

¼ cup Thai basil leaves

1 long red chilli, thinly sliced

Instructions

Make the prawn mixture

Place the prawns, red curry paste, fish sauce, egg white, sugar and spring onion into a food processor. Blend until you’ve got a smooth, sticky mixture.

Assemble the tacos

Cook until golden and crisp

Heat about 2 teaspoons of oil in a large frying pan over medium-low heat. Add 1-2 tacos (depending on your pan size), sesame side down, and gently press them with a spatula to “smash” slightly. Cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side or until the prawn mixture turns golden brown. Lower the heat a bit if it’s colouring too quickly. Flip and cook for another 2 minutes or until the tortilla is crisp and golden. Transfer to a wire rack and repeat with the rest.

Toss together the herb salad

Meanwhile, toss together the coriander, spring onion, pickled onion, Thai basil and red chilli in a small bowl to make a bright, fresh herb salad.

Serve

To serve, drizzle the warm tacos with coconut sriracha. Top with the herb salad. Fold them up to scrunch all that goodness into a taco shape. And enjoy!