Tôm Nướng - Soy and Honey Barbecued Prawns

It's time to chill. It's time to finish that book I started weeks ago. It's time to eat pretzels out of the bag while I stand and stare out of the kitchen window. It's time to have a cup of tea and flick through magazines. It's time to be the tooth fairy (at 3 in the morning when I wake up with a start and realise I only have a $50 note in my wallet). It's time to smell the roses, literally. It's time to watch the chickens trying to workout how to get into the fenced-off vegetable garden. It's time to open a bottle of champagne. It's time to paint my toenails fuchsia pink... And it's definitely time to marinate prawns in honey and soy and fire up the barbecue.

Tôm Nướng - Soy and Honey Barbecued Prawns
from Pauline Nguyen's Secrets of the Red Lantern

18 large raw prawns
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 bird's-eye chile, ground in a mortar
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Soak eighteen bamboo skewers in water for 10 minutes.

Peel and devein the prawns, leaving the tail shells intact.

Combine the remaining ingredients, mix well, add the prawns, and marinate for 30 minutes.

Remove the prawns from the marinade, skewer with the bamboo sticks, and char-grill over high heat for about 2 minutes, turning once, or until cooked.