Mouthwatering Velvety Prawn Coconut Curry Soup
If you enjoy a lush velvety Prawn Coconut Curry soup with a bit of heat and oodles of flavor from time to time, this recipe is definitely for you.
- 15 ml coconut oil (approximately 1 tablespoon)
- 400 grams prawn tails
- 225 grams onion, finely chopped (approximately 1 medium sized onion or 250 ml chopped onion)
- 5 ml freshly grated ginger (approximately 1 teaspoon)
- 7.5 ml finely crushed garlic (2 large cloves) (approximately 1/2 teaspoons)
- 10 ml tomato puree (approximately 2 teaspoons)
- 7.5 ml freshly ground black pepper (approximately 1/2 teaspoons)
- 10 ml fish spice (approximately 2 teaspoons)
- 5 ml chilli flakes (approximately 1 teaspoon)
- 1.25 ml hot curry powder (approximately 1/4 teaspoon)
- 5 ml dried parsley or dried coriander (approximately 1 teaspoon)
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 125 ml boiling water (approximately 1/2 cup)
- 350 ml fresh cream (approximately 1 2/5 cup)
- 250 ml coconut milk (approximately 1 cup)
- 10 ml fish sauce, or to taste (approximately 2 teaspoons)
- 30 ml lime juice (approximately 1 lime)
- 15 ml full fat milk, optional (approximately 1 tablespoon)
- In a pan, fry prawns in 15 ml coconut oil on low heat for 2-3 mins till prawns are just pink in color.
- Saute the chopped onions in a separate pot and until the onions are golden brown. This will take 10-15 minutes on medium heat.
- Add the ginger and garlic and allow to saute for 4-5 mins on medium-low heat.
- Add the tomato puree and continue stirring for 2 minutes until the tomato is amalgamated.
- Add the prawns, black pepper, fish spice, crushed chillies, curry powder, parsley or coriander and stir for 5 minutes until the spices are cooked through.
- Add the vegetable stock cube to the boiling water and mix until dissolved then add to the prawn curry mixture.
- Add the fresh cream and coconut milk and cook stirring continuously until the soup thickens, about 2-3 minutes.
- Once the soup has thickened up, add the juice of 1 lime or small lemon and continue stirring. Add the fish sauce and adjust the seasoning if required.
- Allow the soup to reduce until it reaches your desired consistency. If it thickens too much add the milk one tablespoon at a time to loosen it.
- Serve garnished with chopped parsley or coriander and a few slices of crusty bread, jasmine rice or noodles.
The curry based broth doesn’t require any complicated or fancy exotic ingredients and can be tailored to what you have available. This Prawn Coconut Curry soup is fragrant with ginger, garlic and curry spice and happened when Spicy Prawn Soup and Prawn Curry with Coconut milk had a baby.
I have always had a big love for seafood, and prawns especially has been one of my favourites. In early January, we had lunch at a cosy little restaurant in Cape Town CBD called Favor8, if I’m not mistaken. Having it be my first time at this restaurant I was a bit sceptical about what to order.
I decided to order prawn soup as a starter and can I just say, it was probably the best decision I ever made! From the get-go I was in love with it. Even months of eating there, I still had a craving for this soup and being under lockdown, it’s impossible to go anywhere.
To stop the craving I decided to create my own version of the soup, incorporating the elements I could still taste in my mind. If you like Thai Prawn Curry in Coconut Milk then this is the hassle free version (aka can’t get to the shops for Thai curry paste or ingredients).
My coconut curry prawns soup is very simple to prepare and every time I prepare it, I enjoy it so much. I add some additional ingredients to enhance the flavour but even without the additional ingredients, it’s still absolutely delicious.
I would say, this is definitely not the kind of soup you can prepare on a weekly basis as it is a very luxurious soup, though it’s totally okay if you want to.
- Fish sauce (season with salt if you don’t have fish sauce)
- Fresh or dried parsley or coriander leaves
- Hot curry powder
- Fresh cream
- Tomato puree
This soup would be an excellent dish if you are having a family dinner or entertaining guests and even for religious holidays such as Christmas and Eid where mass food is prepared. It’s always good to change things up and add something new. Even though this recipe is initially made for prawns, you can add any seafood if you are looking to spice up a simpler recipe.
It’s just a process of figuring out what works for you. This coconut milk prawn curry soup has a burst of flavour. The way it is prepared allows you to taste all components of the soup and increases the intensity of the flavour.
I love this because the entire house literally smells of seafood while the soup is cooking. It releases this heavenly aroma of seafood and goodness that you cannot resist and it’s simply mesmerizing.
- Fresh cream should be room temperature.
- Store bought ginger and garlic paste can be used instead of freshly crushed garlic and sliced ginger.
- I would not recommend using coconut milk or cream that has been frozen and defrosted as this might have a negative effect on the outcome of the soup.
- I would highly recommend including the tomato puree, vegetable stock, fish spice and curry powder as this contributes to a huge amount of the flavour of the soup.
- If you want to achieve a looser texture, reduce the amount of cream and increase the amount of coconut milk.
- This soup can be frozen and reheated. However, the soup will immediately start to thicken up after completion. For this, I recommend adding a tablespoon of milk at a time to loosen up the soup before serving or after freezing.
- Be sure to keep the soup refrigerated or frozen to hold the integrity and keep the soup fresh. Exposure to the summer temperatures will result in the soup going bad due to the dairy content.
- This soup can be enjoyed with fresh crusty bread or slightly toasted bread.
- This can be served with rice as well as noodles. Jasmine rice goes very well with this soup but any rice can be used.
- Serving this with a slice of lemon on the side would be great for those who prefer to add a dash of lemon for more flavour.
I fully enjoyed this soup and I am pretty sure you will too. I hope this recipe was useful.
Enjoy! For more delicious soups and meals click on the links below:
- If you have fresh vegetable stock you should use that instead of the stock cube and boiling water.
- If you don't have fish sauce, season with salt.
Disclaimer: Nutritional information for the recipe is an approximation and varies according to the ingredients and products used. If you liked the recipe above please consider rating the recipe and leaving a comment below.
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