Thai Prawn & Lemongrass Salad

I had a prawn salad on my first trip to Thailand, many many years ago and I have been on a hunt for a good recipe ever since.
This is one of my favorites.
It tastes as delicious as it looks and it is very easy to make.

Leave all ingredients prepared before you begin cooking and assembling it, like in ALL asian cooking and there is very little that can go wrong.
You can also make it with thins strips of chicken, pork or beef.
You can BBQ the prawns before you add it to the sauce if you want!!!

You will need:

6 uncooked, unshelled and deveined prawns
1/2 cup boiling water or fresh lemongrass tea {no sugar}
1 tablespoon chilli sauce
lightly pounded bird's eyes chillies {as many as you can take}
1/2 of a lime {juice only}
2 tablespoons of nam pla {fish sauce}
a  drop of soya sauce
a pinch of sugar
2 bulbs of lemongrass hit with the back of your cleaver and sliced VERY thinly and diagonally as shown in the picture}
1/2 cup of a mixture of white onion, red onion or thai/indian red shallots, spring onions
4 cherry tomatoes cut in half {optional}

Blanch the prawns in the water or tea until pink/cooked and drain. Do not overcook them.
In a bowl, mix all the other ingredients and adjust the seasoning to your liking. The idea is that is a little spicy, tangy and salty with a touch of lemongrass. The sugar serves to bring out the flavours of the chilli and smoothing the mixture.
Mix the prawns in the sauce, arrange it on a nice plate and serve immediately.