KEY POINTS:
This easy-to-prepare summer salad will invoke the flavours of a tropical island holiday
Serves 4
1 green papaya
20 cooked prawns
1 fresh coconut
Dressing
1 fresh red bird's eye chilli, finely diced
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp fish sauce
Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup water
4 Lebanese cucumbers (or 1 cup diced telegraph)
1 For the dressing: place all ingredients in a small saucepan, heat gently while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and let sit while preparing the salad.
2 Halve the papaya, remove the seeds and the skin then finely slice. Peel the prawns and add to the papaya.
3 Hold the coconut over a bowl to catch the water then, with the back of a chef's knife, whack the coconut three or four times around the diameter until it cracks, then break in half. Remove the flesh using a spoon, gently shred and add to the bowl.
4 Add the diced cucumber then pour over the dressing. Chill for 15 minutes before serving. The coconut water makes a delicious chilled drink with or without the bourbon, as one stallholder advised.