California Prune Sweet and Sour Prawns

This isn’t the luminous sweet and sour of the Chinese takeaway (which is mainly high glycaemic index sugar) but a much more delicious one. Usually the sweetness comes from pineapple juice and sugar and it’s thickened with cornflour, but I have used a California Prune puree to provide the sweetness and because I have used the whole prune there is no need to add any thickener. This means this dish has a much lower glycaemic index to the traditional one and is also great for your gut health as the fibre feeds the useful bacteria living there. It also has a beautifully deep flavour.

 

Makes: 4
EMAIL PIN SHARE

INGREDIENTS

  •  
  • 120g California Prunes
  • 200ml water
  • 1 thumb-size piece of ginger, finely grated
  • 2 cloved garlic, crushed
  • 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
  • 100ml rice vinegar (or cider vinegar)
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 300g pak choy, quartered
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced
  • 320g mushrooms, quartered
  • 320g peeled raw prawns
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  •  
Watch

DIRECTIONS

  1. Put the California Prunes, water, ginger and garlic in a saucepan with a lid and bring it to a simmer with the lid on
  2. Simmer gently for about 5mins until the prunes have started to soften
  3. Put this mixture into a blender and blend until you have a smooth puree
  4. This will be the base of your sauce
  5. Put the sauce base back into the pan and add the rest of the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer
  6. Cook over a low heat for about 5mins then set aside
  7. Meanwhile heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan then add the vegetables
  8. Stir fry for 5mins or so until the start to soften then add the prawns
  9. Continue to cook over a high heat until the prawns turn completely pink
  10. Add the sauce and sesame seeds and cook until everything is hot
  11. Serve with rice of noodles

 

 

AUTHOR

Jo Travers BSc RD MBDA

Jo Travers BSc RD MBDA

Registered dietitian and professional nutritionist, author of the book The Bone-Strength Plan, Jo Travers is also known as “The London Nutritionist”. She has come onboard the California Prune Board as an ambassador to help us spread the word of the health and nutritional benefits of prunes.