Nigel Slater’s midweek dinner: prawns, watermelon and lime

Serves 2. Ready in 30 minutes.

Put 50g of plain flour in a shallow dish and stir in 1 tsp of dried chilli flakes and a generous grinding of black pepper. Pour 4 tbsp of Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce into a shallow bowl, stir in a pinch of caster sugar, then add 400g of raw, peeled prawns, toss to coat, and leave them for at least 15 minutes.

Peel a 500g wedge of watermelon and cut the flesh into large chunks, picking out the brown seeds as you go. Squeeze the juice from a lime. Roughly chop a handful of both mint leaves and coriander leaves and mix with the lime juice, then toss with the watermelon.

Warm 3 tbsp of groundnut or vegetable oil in a frying pan or wok, then toss the prawns in the flour. Introduce the prawns to the hot pan and let them fry, moving them occasionally as the surface of each starts to crisp.

When the outside of each prawn is pale gold in colour and lightly crisped, remove quickly to a piece of kitchen paper. Divide the watermelon and its dressing between two dishes, then scatter the hot prawns over and eat, while the prawns are still hot and crisp.

• The contrast in temperature between the sizzling prawns and the melon is important. Keep the melon chilled throughout and serve the dish as soon as possible.

• Fresh or frozen prawns are fine here. If using frozen, make sure they are defrosted before flouring and frying.

• I like to add half a lime to each dish in case anyone wants an extra spritz of citrus.

Photograph by Jonathan Lovekin