Goong Ob WoonSen - Prawns in glass noodle pot

RECIPE: Prawns in Glass Noodle Hot Pot (Goong Ob WoonSen)

in Fish & Seafood, Main, Noodles, Recipe

This is a great one-pot meal that is cooked in minutes yet packed with flavour! Think ginger, garlic, black peppercorn, Chinese celery roots and leaves. It is one of the most popular dishes at seafood restaurants in Thailand.

Ingredients (Sauce)

  • 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp dark soy sauce
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil (optional)
  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) prawn stock, or chicken stock, or water

Ingredients (Hot Pot)

  • 80g dry glass noodles
  • 6 large (or 8 medium) prawns, whole, whiskers trimmed
  •  2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1/2 tsp black or white peppercorns
  •  2-3 cloves garlic
  • 6 slices ginger
  • 2-3 coriander roots (or 1 Chinese celery root)
  • A handful of Chinese celery stalk
  •  A handful of Chinese celery leaves

Directions

  1. Soak glass noodles in room temperature water for 10 minutes to soften.
  2. Drain noodles. If you want, you can cut the noodles with scissors just a couple of times to shorten them and make them easier to eat.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, add light soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and stock or water together and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
  4. Add the noodles and the prawns into the sauce bowl, toss well and let it sit for a few minutes.
  5. In a mortar and pestle, grind the peppercorns until fine. Add the garlic and smash just until broken into pieces. Add coriander roots and Chinese celery stalk and smash them just to bruise.
  6. Add the smashed herbs, the ginger, and the oil to a heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid that is just big enough to hold the noodles and the shrimp. Heat the pot over medium heat until the herbs are sizzling.
  7. Once you can smell the herbs in the air add the noodles to the pot along with all the sauce, put the shrimp on top. Cover and cook over medium high heat just until you can hear the sauce boiling inside. Then lower the heat to medium low and cook for 2 minutes.
  8. Open the pot and stir well, then cover and cook for another 2 minutes or until the shrimp and the noodles are done and the sauce is no longer pooling at the bottom. Taste, and if the noodles are not fully cooked, add a splash of water or stock, then stir and let it cook a bit longer until done.
  9. Turn off the heat, top with fresh Chinese celery. Cover the bowl for a minute and ready to serve.