We call this dish in the Philippines, “Ginataang Sugpo”. Sugpo means prawn and ginataan means, cooked with coconut milk. Traditionally, we use long beans for this dish but it’s not always available in my Asian store so I substituted it with asparagus. You can also use butternut squash instead of Kabocha if you can’t find it.
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs prawn, deveined
- 7 cloves of garlic
- 1 cup onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger, sliced thinly
- Squash (kabocha), peeled and cut into cubes
- 1 lb asparagus, cut into 2 inches long
- 1 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 tbsp shrimp paste or 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp pepper
- 5 bay leaves
- 1 banana pepper or jalapeno
Directions:
- In a pan, add 3 tablespoon olive oil and saute the garlic for a few minutes.
- Add the chopped onions and ginger and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of coconut milk, fish sauce, pepper, banana pepper, bay leaves. Stir and add the squash. Bring to a boil and simmer for 25 minutes or until the squash is tender.
- Add the prawn and asparagus and simmer for another 15 minutes or until the prawn is cooked through.
- Add the remaining coconut milk and cilantro. Stir to combine. This adds extra creaminess to the soup.
- Serve while warm with steamed rice. Enjoy!
Note:
Kabocha is hard as a rock type of squash and very hard to peel. So I discover an easy way to do it. Place the whole kabocha in a pot and add a cup of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, turn the bottom of Kabocha up and cook for another 3 minutes. It will get softened and makes it 100 times easier to peel and chopped.
