ETHNIC COOK : Really Cool Hot Food

Sri Lankan food can be hot--”really, really hot,” says Sandrena Sorensen, who takes a cooler tack when she cooks for American friends.

Born in Colombo, raised in Hong Kong and now living in Huntington Harbor, Sorensen often puts together exotic buffets to show off her country’s food. “I try to keep it as authentic as possible,” she says, “but I make it possible for the European palate.”

Substituting paprika for hot red chiles is one way she moderates flavor without changing appearance. That approach makes her version of Isso Badun (Deviled Prawns) pleasantly zingy rather than devilishly hot.

Although Sri Lankan cooking can be very exotic, any supermarket will yield the ingredients for this dish. Sorensen suggests rice or couscous as an accompaniment. For a party, she would prepare a broad assortment of foods including the prawns, chicken curry, green beans with a spiced Sri Lankan-style white sauce, spiced potatoes, curried eggplant, yellow rice or plain steamed rice, a light cucumber salad and, for dessert, fruit marinated in liqueur. The beverage would be beer or a dry white wine.

Sorensen, sales manager for a firm in Carson and last year’s Miss Sri Lanka-America, has cooked since the age of 5 and never follows a recipe. “I throw things together and it always comes out great,” she says.

One reason for the good results may be inheritance. Sorensen’s mother is Felicia Sorensen, a leading exponent of Sri Lankan cuisine who is based in Hong Kong. Felicia Sorensen stages Sri Lankan culinary festivals in Asia and Europe; caters; produces Sri Lankan foods and condiments for sale in Hong Kong, and has written one of the few books available on this cuisine, “The Exotic Tastes of Paradise.”

ISSO BADUN (Sri Lankan Deviled Prawns)

2 pounds medium shrimp

5 tablespoons oil

1 onion, finely sliced

2 teaspoons chopped ginger root

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 teaspoon finely sliced serrano chile

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon hot chili powder

2 tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup hot water

6 green onions, cut into 2-inch lengths

Salt

Shell shrimp, leaving tails attached. Devein and wash.

Heat oil in skillet. Add onion, ginger, garlic and serrano chile and saute 2 minutes. Add shrimp, paprika, coriander and chili powder. Mix well, cover and cook over medium heat 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, hot water and green onions. Season to taste with salt. Cook, uncovered, 2 minutes longer. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

214 calories; 212 mg sodium; 172 mg cholesterol; 11 grams fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 24 grams protein; 0.68 grams fiber; 46% calories from fat.