Succulent shrimp are cooked in aromatic coconut milk broth and green beans.
What is udang masak lemak / gulai udang?
Udang means prawns/shrimp, masak means to cook, and lemak means fat/oil, in this context, it simply refers to the prawns being cooked in coconut milk. Coconut milk has a high fat content and that’s why it’s often called lemak in Singapore and Malaysia (for example: nasi lemak, which mainly means coconut rice because the rice is cooked in coconut milk). In Indonesia, we don’t use the term lemak in food. It is usually just called santan, which means coconut milk or sometimes a dish like this is called a gulai.
What kind of prawn to use
I suggest using large prawns with shells intact. Fresh is best, but frozen works too. The industrial term would be something like 26/30, meaning there are about 26-30 pieces of shrimp per pound.
How to make udang masak lemak
There is really not much to the step-by-step as this is a fairly easy dish to prepare
1. Put all ingredients you need to grind in a food processor and process them into a paste
2. Cut the green beans into 1-inch pieces. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Put the green beans in and blanch for about 2-3 minutes. Discard boiling water and refresh the green beans in cold water to preserve the color. Set aside
3. Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Add oil and the spice paste you grind earlier. Saute for about 3-4 minutes or until fragrant
4. Add the coconut milk and tamarind slice and continue to stir. Control the heat so the coconut milk won’t boil over. Do not hard boil the coconut milk or it will “break” and separate. When it comes to a simmer, add the shrimp and continue to stir
5. When the shrimp is not fully cooked yet (you will see the body is not fully pink in color yet), add the blanched green beans and continue to stir until the shrimp turns all pink, showing that they are cooked through
6. Have a taste and adjust it to your liking. Serve warm as part of a multi-course meal
Important tips
1. As shrimp/prawn is the star ingredient here, get the best quality you can get and large shrimp works better for a recipe like this. Fresh or frozen works.
2. I blanch the green beans separately so that they maintain the nice green color and to avoid overcooking the shrimp
3. Once you put the coconut milk in, you need to keep stirring over medium heat to avoid the coconut milk from breaking and separate
4. Cook until the shrimp turns pink. Take care not to overcook the shrimp so they won’t turn tough
Did you make this udang masak lemak cili padi recipe?
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Udang Masak Lemak Cili Padi (Spicy Prawn in Coconut Milk)
Ingredients
- 500 gr large prawns with shells (26/30)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil
- 300 ml coconut milk
- 1 piece tamarind slice (asam gelugur) can substitute with 1 Tbsp vinegar or to taste
- 200 gr green beans
Ingredients to grind:
- 1 large purple onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 inches turmeric
- 1 inch ginger
- 10 Bird's eye chili or more to taste, omit if you want to
Seasoning:
- 2 tsp sugar
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Put all ingredients you need to grind in a food processor and process into a paste
- Cut the green beans into 1-inch pieces. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Put the green beans in and blanch for about 2-3 minutes. Discard boiling water and refresh the green beans in cold water to preserve the color. Set aside
- Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Add oil and the spice paste you grind earlier. Saute for about 3-4 minutes or until fragrant. Add the coconut milk and tamarind slice and continue to stir. Control the heat so the coconut milk won't boil over. Do not hard boil the coconut milk or it will "break" and separate. When it comes to a simmer, add the shrimp and continue to stir
- When the shrimp is not fully cooked yet (you will see the body is not fully pink in color yet), add the blanched green beans and continue to stir until the shrimp turns all pink, showing that they are cooked through
- Have a taste and adjust it to your liking. Serve warm as part of a multi-course meal
6 comments
Hi Marv, I would love to try this recipe, but my children can’t take spicy foods. Do you think it would still taste good if I omit the birds eye chilli in the rempah? 10 is definitely too much for them!
Hi Ying, oh yes, you can definitely omit the chili and it will still taste really good 🙂
In Asia 26 / 30 is the count of shrimp per kg. which is a large animal and for me at least the best choice for any dish highlighting shrimp, the yields are a bit higher than smaller shrimp and the size makes it easy to peel, Shrimp like automobiles come different manufacturers but all sort of conform to the different size categories, like you mentioning the size of shrimp, the species is also important, personally in the size mentioned I prefer a Monodon, (Black Tiger) the shell is a bit more sturdy than the usual white shrimp (vannamei) and the meat for the most part is more dense and holds it shape. Just some personal thoughts.
Good point! Thank you for sharing. I actually used black tiger shrimp!
Hi. Thank you for sharing this. Is there any chilies in the recipe as I noticed the curry is rather red
Hello, yes, there are some chilis and the reddish color actually also because there’s turmeric.