Serves: 8This is essentially a fancy prawn cocktail, served with a spicy tomato dressing.

This is essentially a fancy prawn cocktail, served with a spicy tomato dressing. The silky prawns are prepared using Stephanie Alexander’s Chinese “velveting” technique – if time is short, you can simply stir-fry the prawns. To save time you can also substitute a good-quality mayonnaise to combine with the tomato sauce in the dressing.

Spiced tomato dressing
500g tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 fresh chillies, sliced
1⁄4 cup brown sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon coriander seeds
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1⁄2 cup white wine vinegar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
75ml light-flavoured oil (such as grapeseed)
75ml olive oil

Place the tomatoes, onion, chillies, sugar, salt, coriander seeds, cloves, cinnamon and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Adjust the heat to a steady low boil and cook for 40 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Pass through a sieve or mouli to remove the spices and tomato skins and seeds. You should end up with about 150ml – if you have more, boil the mixture to reduce it further. Cool.

Place the egg yolk and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk together with an electric beater. Continue beating while you very slowly drizzle in the oils, until it is thick and creamy. This is the mayonnaise. Fold through the tomato sauce.

The dressing will keep for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

For the salad
1⁄2 cup cornflour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1kg prawns, shelled and deveined
2 small cos lettuces
2 x 400g cans artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

Mix the cornflour and baking soda together in a bowl. Add the prawns and rub the cornflour mixture into them, massaging firmly for 2-3 minutes. Transfer the prawns to a colander and, with the cold tap running on full, massage them under the water for a further 5 minutes. Drain well.

Line a bamboo steamer (or a large regular steamer) with the outer leaves from the lettuces. Add the prawns then cover and steam over boiling water for 4 minutes or until opaque. Set aside to cool then refrigerate until ready to serve (up to 2 days).

Slice the remaining lettuce leaves and arrange in 8 glasses with the artichoke pieces. Top with the prawns and some spiced tomato dressing. Serve the extra dressing alongside.

Wine match - A dry, zesty South Island pinot gris.