If it was not for my love of steak, I could quite happily become a Pescatarian. I love the versatility, taste, texture and general goodness our fishy friends have to offer – one of my favourite seafood is prawn. They taste great, and good for you too. They can even improve sexual libido (apparently) – although I am not going there right now.
Prawns have a great ability to defrost quickly in minutes, and absorb pretty much any flavour you throw at them making them a really versatile ingredient to use on a whim (just keep a few bags in the freezer for when you need them). This recipe makes an ideal starter (but could be fleshed out into a main with minimal effort), as it can be made in advance and chilled in the fridge 1-2 hours in advance.
This is an adaptation of a Bill Granger recipe, featured in Bill’s Everyday Asian.
I must have served it 3-4 times and is always a success (either that or my guests are just being polite, but seem to happily slurp up any I have left behind).

Prawn, Mango, Avocado and Chilli Salad
Ingredients
- 1 x 200g bag of prawns defrosted and sliced into small slices (about 3-4mm wide)
- 1 x large ripe mango stoned, and cut into small cubes
- 1 x ripe avocado stoned, and cut into small cubes
- 1 x red chilli de-seeded and finely sliced
- 4 x spring onion trimmed
- 1 x small bunch coriander leaves finely chopped
- 2 tbsp Chilli dipping sauce
- juice and zest of 1 limes
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Combine the chili dipping sauce, lime juice, and sesame oil in a small bowl (or ramekin) and mix well. I use a mini-whisk for this.
- In a large mixing bowl, gently combine the finely chopped avocado, thinly sliced prawns, mango, chilli, spring onion and coriander.
- Drizzle over about half of the chilli and lime dressing, and mix well.
- Carefully place a quarter of the mixture into a chef’s ring, and gently compact using a pusher. Note: you do not want to crush or bruise the ingredients.
- Serve with shredded Pak Choi or romaine lettuce and drizzle over remaining dressing.
That salad looks awesome!
Thanks James,
It certainly ‘works’. I just need to find a better way of making the photo do justice. I have dusted off the SLR in the hope that I can produce better results.
The instructions make no mention of what you do with the prawns?, give them to the cat or put them in the bin?
Dear Jim
Many thanks for bringing this to my attention. I certainly blame bad proof reading (me!) for the oversight.
The recipe instructions have now been corrected.
Hi, would it be ok to eat the next day? Or would the ingredients turn soggy because of the dressing?
Hi Shelby
What a great question and sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Whilst I think it is to to refrigerate for a couple of hours as per recipe, I think leaving it for longer (even with lime juice as an ingredient) I fear that both the avocado and mango, in particular, will start to perish/ and discolor (go brown). As far as dishes go, it is pretty quick to assemble (providing you are used to dealing with mango and avocado). as quick cheat, you can always use precut mango which would have a bit of time too. I hope this helps!.