TNT: Papaya & Garlic Scampi

[urmaniac13]

This is such a delicious, different and simple to make recipe...should work with frozen ones but if you can get them, do go with the fresh prawns!!

Ingredients:
50g / 3tbsp butter
500g/1 lb scampi/prawn shelled and cleaned
1 plump, ripe, large papaya, deseeded and peeled, diced into small cubes
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp full of grated ginger (or powder)
pinch of berbere (or tiny dashes of clove, nutmeg and cinnamon)
salt to taste

Heat the skillet with half of the butter, then sautè the onion, garlic and ginger. When they are well cooked, add the papaya, sprinkle the spices and continue to sautè until the papaya is softened. Remove them from the skillet.
Add the rest of the butter, quickly fry the scampi/prawns over high heat. Just when they are about to be done toss back the papaya mix and blend them well.

Save the papaya seed btw, and try this!!

Buon Appetito!!

[Jikoni]

^Wait a minute you lucky Urmaniac13, you do get beriberi spice in Rome? I buy mine in south London and use it sparingly. Have you had of the Ethiopian dish Doro wot which they use a lot of beriberi spice and eaten with injera.It's really spicy. Gosh I miss it. whenever I prepare it it never tastes the same as in the Ethiopian restaurant or when my Ethiopian friend cooks it.

[urmaniac13]

Yes Hya, we just found it in the market near our house just a few days ago, it is located in the middle of an ethnic quarter and we find many exotic items here!! We had never heard of it but wanted to give it a try. we loved the aroma of it, and we decided to use it in our panforte (Traditional holiday cake from Tuscany) on the new years eve. We were wondering why it came out so spicy now that explains... it smelled so sweet we had no idea it also contained a lot of chili pepper!!
Now there is someone who knows this spice, can you give us some recipe ideas? And if you run out of it, I would happy to send some to you!! (probably I will make the poor custom control dog sneeze though )

[Jikoni]

Urmaniac13, the truth is I am crazy about beriberi spice that I used to try to sneak pinces of it in any curry if I can get away with it, then I realised that all my curries tasted the same as the spicy is really spicy and over powers the the other spices. So to make it a purely Ethiopian dish, I prepare doro wot. I will post a doro wot recipe in the African recipes thread.Glad you found it, it's reallyy something.

[urmaniac13]

Thanks Siz!! Indeed I was thinking about trying it in our curry dish, too!! Great minds think alike!! I will look forward to that recipe!!

[Piccolina]

Oooh Licia, what a fanatstic looking recipe! Many thanks for sharing this beauty with us I wonder, do you think that it would work with chicken or turkey breast as well?

[urmaniac13]

Originally Posted by Piccolina

Oooh Licia, what a fanatstic looking recipe! Many thanks for sharing this beauty with us I wonder, do you think that it would work with chicken or turkey breast as well?

I think that would be also good, with chicken/turkey breast!! I tend to go low key on spices when I cook prawns so as not to drown their wonderful subtle flavour, but with chicken or turkey I think you can charge it up a bit more, even an addition of something like garam masala. I hope you will enjoy it!!

[GB]

This recipe sound amazing!!!!!

[AllenOK]

I just happen to have a recipe for this stuff. I've never tried to make it.

Ethiopian Berberé
HOT!

Seasonings:
1 t powdered ginger
1 t ground cardamom
1 T star anise, crushed
1 t fenugreek seeds, crushed, optional
1 t cinnamon
2 T cayenne
2 T salt
1 T red pepper flakes
2 t ground coriander
1 t turmeric
1 t nutmeg
1 t allspice
1 T black pepper
½ c paprika
½ c red wine
¼ c peanut oil
¼ c fresh OJ
--or--
1 T wine
1 ½ t peanut oil
1 ½ t OJ
per 1 T of the spice mix.

Toast spices, add wine, and cook 2 - 3 minutes, until a uniform paste is formed. Remove from heat and cool. Add peanut oil and OJ, mix thoroughly.

[shannon in KS]

We LOVE papaya too! Except finding quality, fresh papaya in Kansas is a little tricky at times! I like your idea too Piccolina! My daughter is not to fond of shrimp unless I grill it and bbq it!