← Nouns Cooking · Malaysian & Singaporean

Ingredients

• 500 g large prawns, shell on, feelers trimmed, deveined through the back
• ½ tsp Salt
• 3 tbsp Cornflour (cornstarch)
• 500 ml oil, for frying
• 40 g Butter
• 3 sprigs Curry leaves, leaves picked
• 4 Bird's eye chilli, sliced
• 2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 60 g Instant cereal (Nestum) or quick oats
• 1½ tbsp Sugar
• ½ tsp salt (or chicken stock powder)
• 1 tbsp Full-fat milk powder (optional)

Method

1. Pat the prawns dry, toss with the salt and then the cornflour until lightly coated.
2. Heat the oil in a wok to 180°C (350°F). Fry the prawns in two batches for 2–3 min until pink, crisp and cooked through. Drain on paper and pour the oil out of the wok.
3. Wipe the wok, set it over low heat and melt the butter. Add the curry leaves, chillies and garlic and fry for 1 minute until the leaves crackle.
4. Tip in the cereal, sugar, salt and milk powder (if using) and stir constantly over low heat for 3–4 min, until the crumbs are golden, dry and smell like toffee.
5. Return the prawns, toss to coat them in the crumbs, and serve straight away while crunchy.

Tips

• Keep the heat low for the cereal; it goes from golden to burnt in seconds because of the butter and sugar.
• Contains shellfish, dairy and gluten (the cereal); quick-cooking oats blitzed briefly with a pinch of sugar make a good stand-in for Nestum.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Nomadette Marion's Kitchen Taste Asian Food