Jessica Ransom
This Vietnamese prawn curry has just two steps in the method and takes 10 minutes to cook.
Dinner doesn’t get much healthier, quicker or tastier than this zingy Vietnamese-inspired curry. The recipe serves two but it’s easy to scale up if you’re cooking for more. Each portion includes one of your 5-a-day but a side of steamed greens can easily boost this.
Ingredients
- Frylight sunflower oil spray
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 lemongrass sticks, trimmed and chopped
- 1-2 green chillies, deseeded and sliced
- 1-2tbsp curry powder
- 200ml semi-skimmed milk
- 1tsp sugar
- 1tbsp fish sauce
- 1tsp chicken bullion powder
- 200g raw prawns
- 150g pak choi
WEIGHT CONVERTER
Method
- Spray a little oil into a pan and gently cook the onion, lemongrass, chilli and curry powder for about 5 minutes, until softened and fragrant.
- Add the milk, sugar, fish sauce, stock powder and prawns, then bring to a simmer. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the prawns are just turning pink, then add the pak choi for 1-2 minutes. Serve straight away with extra chillies.
Top tips for making Vietnamese prawn curry
If you’re pescatarian, swap the chicken bullion powder for vegetable powder instead. You could also crumble in ¼ to ½ a fish stock cube if you prefer.
Can I make this curry with fish?
If you don't mind adding a few extra calories, try this curry with 150g skinless cod fillet (113 calories per serving). Any white fish would work well or you could even make it with scallops if you like.
How to store leftover Vietnamese prawn curry?
This curry serves two but if you're cooking for one, the other portion can be stored for a day in a sealed container in the fridge. It's possible to freeze it, though we recommend freezing without the prawns. Once defrosted, add some fresh prawns when you reheat the dish.
What to serve with Vietnamese curry?
Enjoy this curry as it is and slurp the sauce as a delicious broth at the end or serve with rice to soak it all up. Noodles are another tasty option and although not a traditional choice, wholemeal toasted pitta breads or wraps would be nice too.
“Using semi-skimmed milk helps to keep the calories down in this recipe but if you’re not worried about increasing them, swap to coconut milk for a delicious creamy flavour.”
If you want perfectly even slices of onion, food writer Jessica Ransom recommends using a mandoline. It helps everything cook evenly and is quick and easy to use.
Try our Thai prawn curry and noodles if you fancy some more Southeast Asian cuisine. You might also like our Chinese prawn curry or Joe Wicks Goan fish curry. For something more indulgent, Wagamama's katsu curry recipe is a great choice.
