Prawn Salad, with Avocado Mango Salsa with video

This awesome Prawn Salad, with Avocado Mango Salsa, is perfect for the warm weather and even better when you have a crowd around. Mango salsa and Prawns are a match made in 80’s heaven, so plan on inviting a crowd around to tuck into this amazing salad.

3 perfect ingredients together from the retro past

For me, there is nothing like pairing Prawns, Avocado and Mango. The combination of fruit and avocado in foods was very popular in the 80’s. Some don’t like fruit with savoury things but mango is a winner with Chicken, Pork and Prawns. To make a salad like this work so brilliantly, adding texture, colour and a combination of sweet, sour and salty is important. That is the secret of taste and salads are no different.

You could also add a little heat to this salad if that’s something you enjoy. It adds yet another dimension. If you are a creamy dressing person rather than a chilli person, serve it with a side of Kupee mayo too

This Salad is like a giant Prawn Cocktail with Mango!

The basic principle behind this salad is the gorgeous warm weather soft fruits that cling to the prawns as you bite into them, and the way the sweet and savoury cling to each crunchy element like fresh cucumber and crunchy baby cos, peppery rocket and intense coriander leaves.

The feel is almost like a giant prawn cocktail only much better. You could even cut up the Prawns to ensure you get a little piece in every bite

A salad to be tossed at the last minute

This salad is best tossed together at the last minute and then it stays extra crunchy and absolutely fresh. The salsa could be made up to a day ahead if you want, this just encourages the flavours to meld and instensify.

Don’t make this hard on your self though. If you want to mix and set it aside in the fridge, my advice is to cut and prepare all the single salad components and store each separately until the minute you want to toss them together.

Don’t just stick to steamed Prawns though, because this salad can be easily adapted. Try it with BBQ prawns or squid and if you don’t like seafood try it with chicken too!

Try these salads too!

Grilled Mushroom Salad with Watercress and Spanish Onion

Zucchini and Haloumi Salad with Peas

Beetroot Pumpkin and Haloumi Salad

Prawn Salad, Avocado Mango Salsa

This prawn salad is a beauty to share. It has all the best summertime favourites of avocado and mango. It’s easy and ever so retro tropical.

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Course: dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Maincourse, Salad

Cuisine: Asian Fusion

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 kg prawns cooked, peeled
• 50 gm Spanish onion cut fine, washed *
• 200 gm Lebanese Cucumber sliced into thin rings
• 1/2 lettuce, iceberg is suitably retro
• 2 baby cos lettuce centre leaves
• 50 gm rocket baby leaves
• 3 whole avocados

Salsa

• 500 gm mango 1 or two large
• 1 kg tomatoes firm but ripe
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 150 ml lemon Juice 3 or 4 approximately
• 2 tablespoons sugar caster
• 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 Tablespoons coriander ROOTS and stems chopped
• 2 tablespoons coriander Leaves, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 50 gm peanuts dry roasted and unsalted

Method

 

1. Peel the Prawns and put in the fridge till needed.
2. Next make the salsa. A fine strainer and a bowl will help with making this salsa.

   **(1) Pour 250 ml of boiling water over the diced Spanish onion. Stir for 1 minute and then drain off the water and discard it. Put the onion into a medium sized bowl. Next prepare the tomatoes. Quarter them and cut out the seeds and pulp leaving just the tomato quarters. Put the seeds and pulp into the same strainer. The pulp and seeds will be part of the salsa dressing.

   **(2) Press the juice out of them. ( You will need about 3/4 to 1 cup). Then cut them into even sized dice (big or small your choice)
3. Add the chopped tomatoes to the onion. Next cut the mango into chunks or dice and add that too along with lightly chopped coriander leaves (as much or little as you like).

To finish the salsa

1. To finish the dressing, very finely chop 2 or 3 washed coriander roots **(3) and add them to the tomato juice then add 150 ml of lemon juice, the sugar (don’t skip- but replace with honey if needed), 1 Tablespoon fish sauce, garlic and salt. Stir well and add to the tomato and mango mixture.
2. Let the salsa sit while you prepare the salad. Put the mixed lettuce into a bowl (or platter) add the cucumber. Cut the avocados ( I like big pieces where the centres can pool with salsa). Use a little of the salsa on the salad here. Add the Prawns. Dress further.
3. Finish the salad with more coriander and **(4) roasted peanuts . Serve extra salsa with the salad and let everyone dress there own ( there is plenty of extra here).

Notes

1 kg of Prawns will be about 24 medium to large. I have allowed 6 prawns per person

**(1)Why wash Spanish onion?. Washing Spanish onion in boiling water once cut will take the bite out of them. Once washed they will combine with the sweet mangoes and give flavour without overpowering in any way.

**(2) If your tomatoes aren’t as juicy as you would like you can add a little more lemon juice, orange juice or even tomato juice (pre-prepared)

**(3) Coriander roots have incredible flavour and will make this salsa something to remember. Wash them very well, pulling apart each strand attached to the root because they can be full of dirt.

Add 1 chopped long red chilli to your salsa if you like.

**(4)Buy dry roasted peanuts from the Asian store. They are crunchier and stay fresh longer