Dealing with the lemongrass is the sole challenge of this dish, and only if you’ve never done it before. Maximum flavor is released from whole lemongrass stalks when they are beaten up a bit; bruising the length of each stalk with the blunt edge of a knife takes care of this in seconds. But to include lemongrass in a sauce you must first remove the tough outer layers—this is not unlike peeling a woody scallion—and then carefully and finely mince the inner core.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　2 lemongrass stalks

　　1 tablespoon nam pla (fish sauce)

　　2 limes

　　1 pound shrimp, peeled and, if you like, deveined

　　1 small dried chile

　　1/2 cup fresh or canned coconut milk

　　1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

　　Pinch of saffron threads or 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric or curry powder

　　Salt

　　

Step 1

Trim the ends from the lemongrass, then bruise one of the stalks all over with the back of a knife. Cut it in half and put the halves in the bottom of a saucepan with the nam pla. Squeeze the juice of one of the limes into the pot, then throw the lime halves in there. Top with the shrimp, cover tightly, and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the shrimp are pink and firm. Remove the shrimp and chill.

　　

Step 2

Remove the hard outer layers from the remaining lemongrass stalk and mince the tender core; you won’t get much more than a teaspoon or two. Combine this with the chile, coconut milk, sugar, and saffron in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is a uniform yellow. Remove the chile and chill. Cut the remaining lime into wedges.

　　

Step 3

Taste the sauce and add a little salt if necessary. Serve the cold shrimp topped with the cold sauce and accompanied by lime wedges.

　　

Coconut Milk

Step 4

Although canned coconut milk is perfectly convenient, making coconut milk at home is easy and will contain no preservatives: Combine 2 cups of water and 2 cups dried unsweetened shredded or grated coconut in a blender. Use a towel to hold the lid on tightly and turn the switch on and off a few times quickly to get the mixture going. Then blend for about 30 seconds. Let rest for 10 minutes. Pour the milk through a strainer. This will be fairly thick. If you need more milk, just pour additional water through the coconut, up to another cup or two. Press the coconut to extract as much liquid as possible. Use immediately or freeze indefinitely.

　　

Shrimp

Step 5

Almost all shrimp are frozen before sale. So unless you’re in a hurry, you might as well buy them frozen and defrost them yourself; this will guarantee you that they are defrosted just before you cook them, therefore retaining peak quality.

　　

Step 6

There are no universal standards for shrimp size; large and medium don’t mean much. Therefore, it pays to learn to judge shrimp size by the number per pound, as retailers do. Shrimp labeled 16/20, for example, contain sixteen to twenty per pound; those labeled U-20 require fewer (under) twenty to make a pound. Shrimp from fifteen to about thirty per pound usually give the best combination of flavor, ease (peeling tiny shrimp is a nuisance), and value (really big shrimp usually cost more than $15 a pound).

　　

Step 7

On deveining: I don’t. You can, if you like, but it’s a thankless task, and there isn’t one person in a hundred who could blind-taste the difference between shrimp that have and have not been deveined.

　　From Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times by Mark Bittman Copyright (c) 2007 by Mark Bittman Published by Broadway Books.Mark Bittman is the author of the blockbuster Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.