This Peranakan curry with prawns and pineapple is straight from the hawker markets
It’s all about creating a flavour explosion with sweet and savoury in this Singaporean dish.
Agak is a Malay word meaning “somewhat”, and agak agak is a colloquial term that loosely translates to “estimate”. Agak agak doesn’t exist only as a quirky bit of Singlish, the English-based creole you hear in Singapore; it’s a way of thinking that really comes to life in the kitchen. A conversation with Aunty in the family might go something like this: “How much sugar and chilli for the achar (pickle)?”
“Depends how hot the chilli is, lah. Sugar, you agak agak. If you use more pineapple, you might want it less sweet.”
This is not to say that every dish is a hot mess of random ideas and sheer luck. On the contrary, cooking the agak agak way is cooking with intent and intuition, honed by years of experience at the stove.
While I love pineapple fresh and tossed in a salad, I have a real fondness for cooked pineapple. A flash on a hot grill or a brief simmer in the pan transforms the fruit – heat tenderises it and concentrates its flavour.
In this classic Peranakan curry, chunks of pineapple are paired with fresh king prawns. These ingredients have a natural sweetness that complement each other beautifully – the prawns are sweet and savoury while the pineapples are sweet and sour.
I like to sprinkle over thinly shredded lime leaves right at the end. This is a garnish used in many sweet coconut-based curries, because the perfumed leaves don’t only look pretty, they give the dish a bright, citrusy lift.
Try my other recipes: Nonya lemograss roast chicken and fish sauce omelette.
This is an edited extract from Agak Agak: Everyday Recipes From Singapore by Shu Han Lee (Hardie Grant, $49.99). Photography by Ola O. Smit.
Peranakan prawn & pineapple curry
Ingredients
- 3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 200ml (¾ cup) coconut milk
- 200ml (¾ cup) water
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon light brown sugar, or to taste
- 350g green king prawns, peeled, tails on
- 200g pineapple, peeled and cut in triangles
- 2 lime leaves, stalks removed and finely sliced
For the rempah (spice paste)
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- Thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
- 2 lemongrass stalks, base only, finely chopped
- 1 large fresh red chilli, roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
Method
- Pound all the spice paste ingredients together using a pestle and mortar, or whizz in a small blender, until you get a fine paste. Add the oil to a shallow pot or large frying pan set over a medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the spice paste and cook for about 10 minutes until very fragrant. Turn the heat up, and stir in the coconut milk, water, salt and sugar.
- Once bubbling, add the prawns to the pan, along with the pineapple pieces. Cover, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until the prawns turn orange and are just cooked.
- To finish, taste and season with more salt or sugar, if you like, then sprinkle over the shredded lime leaves.
Serves 3-4