Thanks for responding to my post and sharing your story! I laughed out loud when I read this because I realized that yes, I did cut back on the quantity of salt called for in this recipe. I’ll make it again soon and report back.

But I want to tell you a little story that I’ve told many a student: In my first-ever cooking class, we made gazpacho. It really was a class in knife skills, as we chipped, sliced, diced, and minced. When it came time to sit down and taste our creation, all of us mmmm-ed our way through the first spoonfuls or two. Then the teacher, who had held back half the batch of soup, seasoned it heavily with salt and some pepper. I was shocked at how much she put in. Then we tasted the seasoned batch. POW! All the flavors of tomato, cucumber, onion, and spices were distinct and robust. Then we tasted the unseasoned soup. God, it was bland. That was an important lesson I learn, and if there is one thing I always tell our testers is: Season it well.

This is a long way to say I suspect your sauce my not have been salted well enough. If all those spices were lurking in the dish and you had a hard time finding them, lack of salt is probably the culprit. It really does bring out the best in food.

The prawns were spectacular. It was pouring outside last weekend when I made this so I quickly seared them on a cast iron pan and they were perfect.

The sauce, however, was strangely bland given all the spices (though the addition of prawn shells were a nice touch). My spices are very fresh so perhaps this is more a “personal taste” than an actual recipe critique. To add more heat I simmered a seeded Thai dragon chili and felt that this brought the dish closer to our desired heat level.