Poppin Pumpkin Prawn Patties

Tonight me and my dad who goes by " iminthebathroom " wanted to use up our un-carved pumpkins left over from Halloween, I know.... Sacre-blue - Un-carved pumpkins, oh the horror....

But I digress, Anyone can make lamo pumpkin scones, soup or what have you, but combine prawns, sweet pumpkin and spicy chilli, next thing you know your on your way to flavor town! Why are they Poppin? Cause you can't stop poppin these in your mouth until they are all gone! Seriously though, these are very tasty and aside from the brief pan fry at the end are quite healthy. Prawns not your thing? Sockeye or crab makes a great substitute.

These are great served as an appetizer, perhaps at a Halloween party or just for a tasty snack while watching the latest episode of your favorite TV show.

Ingredients

• About 500 grams of pumpkin or about 3 cups chopped
• 750 gram bag of raw prawns (Have to be raw)
• Bunch of cilantro - chopped
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon of soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons of flour or flour substitute, like gluten free flour.
• Peanut oil for frying

1. Cut and gut your pumpkin
   1. Seeds can be saved for roasting later if you wish.
2. Skin or peel the pumpkin. For this you will need a heavy sharp knife
3. Chop into cubes for easy grinding in the food processor later.
4. Put into your food processor along with your sesame oil, soya sauce, fish sauce, chilli flakes, and your salt and pepper
5. Process until coarsely chopped. You will grind it finer later
6. Slice your cilantro and add it into the processor.

If using prawns with shells and legs still attached you will need to remove them. Refer to the video below, but the basic step is to grab the prawn mid tail and gently squeeze it out of its shell a little while pulling at the the meat itself.

1. Add the shelled prawns to the pumpkin mixture along with your flour, brown sugar and eggs
2. Grind the mixture until until it resembles the pictures below. It will be a bit sticky-goopy, like thick mayonnaise.

1. Heat a frying pan over medium heat with about 1/8 inch of frying oil (peanut oil is best)
2. Fry the patties by dropping in a heaping tablespoon at a time to make a patty about 2.5 inches across. 3-4 patties can be cooked in a pan at the same time
3. Fry the patties for about 2 minutes per side or until they reach a rich golden brown colour.
4. Transfer the cooked patties to a hot tray waiting in a warm oven
5. Serve as quick as you can!

These are best eating right away with a spicy sweet sauce like Thai chilli sauce or perhaps hoisin. They can be re-heated of course later but realistically they'll never be around that long to be reheated!