Yes, the title is corny but I couldn’t think of anything better to introduce this Jamaican dish.

Jamaica is an island in the Great Antilles located in the Caribbean Sea about 145 km south of Cuba. It is 234 kilometres (145 mi) in length approx. kilometres (50 mi) in width, amounting to 11,100 km sq. It’s indigenous Taino inhabitants named the island Xaymaca, meaning the “Land of Wood and Water”, or the “Land of Springs”. The capital is Kingston.

Interesting Facts:
- It was formerly a Spanish possession known as Santiago and it later became the British Crown colony of Jamaica. It remains part of the Commonwealth with Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State.
- Christopher Columbus claimed Jamaica for Spain after landing there in 1494.

Recipe: Shrimp in Coconut Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
1 lb large shrimp, peeled & deveined and pre-cooked
4 med. red-skin potatoes, diced
½ cup chopped onions
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup diced tomatoes
1 cup coconut milk/cream
2 teaspoon paprika
2 stalks scallion, chopped in small pieces
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
2 dried red chilis, chopped finely

Warm oil on medium heat.
Add potatoes and saute over low heat until just barely tender, stirring constantly. Then add onions, and scallion and let that saute until onions are transparent.
Add garlic, paprika and curry powder.
Cook over low heat for approx. 3 mins, stirring constantly.
Add the coconut cream or milk, thyme, chilis and tomatoes, and cook for 3 mins on medium heat – stir often, to prevent coconut milk from drying out.
Finally, add the shrimp and cook for another 5 mins (until shrimp is tenderly cooked).
Serve on its own or over rice.

NOTES:
The recipe calls specifically for red potatoes but I had yellow ones available and instead of buying the red-skinned potatoes, why not use what I have available? So I did, and it turned out well. I also used the canned Thai Kitchen brand cocout milk, I found that its the best coconut milk I’ve used. Although the recipe wants for 1 cup (250ml) I did use the whole can, just because I do love coconut milk dut it didn’t really make the recipe runny, I just found it more coconut-y.
You can buy dried chilies or you can dry your own. A friend of mine gave me some red chilies from the garden and I just left them out, they dried beautifully. I did scoop out most of the seeds before cutting just to make the spicyness less intense.

Verdict:
Ok, yes, it seems like all I do make a lot of coconut and shrimp recipes. It’s great that so many countries have their own variations. I don’t really think you can go wrong with both of those ingredients in one dish. I loved this over rice. It was lovely. I do hope you try it sometime. It was quick and easy.

The Republic of the Fiji Islands is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu. The country occupies an archipelago of about 322 islands, of which 106 are permanently inhabited, and 522 islets. Fiji’s main island is known as Viti Levu and it is from this that the name “Fiji” is derived, through the pronunciation of their island neighbours in Tonga.

Interesting Facts:
- The population of Fiji is mostly made up of native Fijians, who are Melanesians (54.3%), although a few also have Polynesian ancestry, and Indo-Fijians (38.1%), descendants of Indian contract laborers brought to the islands by the British in the nineteenth century.

- Fiji’s culture is a mix of indigenous, Indian, Chinese and European traditions, language, food (based mainly from the sea, casava, dalo & other vegetables), costume, belief systems, architecture, arts, craft, music, dance and sports.

Recipe:  Spiced Prawns with Almonds

3 tbsp Vegetable Oil or Ghee (lucky you if you can find Ghee… I used olive oil)
2 Bay Leaves
1 Cinnamon Stick
The seeds from 5 Cardamom Pods, crushed (use the green cardamom pods, you can coarsely grind the seeds in a coffee grinder or a magic bullet)

1-½ lb large Raw Prawns (shrimp), shelled and deveined (remember to do the ice water trick for the fullest flavour)
1-inch Fresh Ginger Root, grated (I cheatd and used the jarred grated fresh ginger)
1 Onion, chopped
4 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 tbsp Plain Flour
3 tbsp Ground Almonds (you can get away with 4 tbsps)
½  tsp ground Turmeric
600ml/20fl.oz. Coconut Cream or Milk

2 Green Chilies, deseeded and finely chopped

1 tsp Sugar
Salt
1 tbsp Lime Juice

Directions:

Heat the ghee or oil in a frying pan, add the bay leaves, cinnamon and cardamom and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the prawns and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the prawns using tongs or a slitted spoon and set aside.
Reheat the oil then add the ginger, onion, and garlic, and fry for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the flour, almonds, and turmeric, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the coconut milk, chilies and sugar, mix well and simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes.
Return the prawns to the pan, season with salt and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Stir in the lime juice then remove from the heat and serve immediately.

VERDICT:
It may seem like there are a lot of ingredients but it was actually pretty easy to follow. I was afraid to screw it up so I did use a timer to have the exact minute count but even that didn’t make this recipe difficult.  My biggest challenge really was finding green chilies, I went to 3 different supermarkets and found lots of jalapeños, serrano and ancho chilies but no green ones. Thank goodness a friend of mine grows a small garden and, for some reason, he had green chilies to spare (I say “For some reason” because he doesn’t use them himself). So I want to thank my friend Paul for contributing to an important part of this recipe.
The recipe called for salt at the end to season and I only used about a teaspoon, in my opinion salt was really not needed thanks to the symphony of flavours that mingled together to make this creamy delight! I served it over, of course, whole grain rice on its own and we all really enjoyed it. It was delicious! Then again, I am very fond of coconut milk in sauces so I may not be the best judge on this one. All I can say is that it was so good I almost regretted having to share! Almost…