Tamarind glazed prawns with bok choy and lemon grass rice

Ingredients

Glaze
1/2 cup tamarind pulp (you can find this at any Asian market)
1/4 cup sugar
3 cups water
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons lemongrass, chopped
Honey (optional, to taste)

Lemongrass rice
2 cups jasmine rice, room temperature (not "wet" from the steamer)
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons shallots, chopped
4 tablespoons lemongrass, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons scallions, chopped
3 tablespoons fish sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste

Bok Choy
5 heads baby bok choy
2 tablepsoons kosher salt

Prawns
8-10 tiger prawns (16-20 tails per pound) peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups canola oil in a pot for frying (350 degrees) on medium heat

Directions

Glaze
Put tamarind, sugar, water and fish sauce in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and boil slowly on medium-low heat for 15 minutes or until the tamarind is broken down to a "stewy mass." Strain pulp trough a sieve, and set aside. Sauté garlic, lemongrass and shallots in a tablespoon of canola oil for 1 minute. Add the tamarind sauce and adjust the seasoning with either honey or fish sauce if the sauce is too tart or needs more salt.

Lemongrass rice
Sauté the garlic, shallots and lemongrass in a tablespoon of canola oil until soft and transparent. Add the rice to the sauté pan with the butter, toss well and brown the rice. (Remember: You do not have to cook the rice, just coat it with the butter and vegetable goodness.) Add the fish sauce and scallions and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Keep warm and set aside.

Bok Choy
Cut bok choy and soak it in water for 5 minutes, strain, and boil in salted water until the vegetables turn bright green. Remove from water and serve immediately with the lemongrass rice.

Prawns
Dredge the prawns in the cornstarch and shake off the excess. Carefully drop in a hot oil and fry until tan and crispy, about 1 minute. Remove prawns from oil and drop them in the tamarind sauce that was set aside. Toss well in the hot sauce and then serve immediately. If you do not want to fry the prawns, you can sauté them with 2 tablespoons of canola oil and then coat them with the glaze.

Serve all of the dishes together on one plate and finish your with cilantro sprigs, fried shallots and chili sauce, and enjoy!