← Nouns Cooking · Chinese

Ingredients

• 500 g large shell-on raw prawns, legs trimmed, backs slit and deveined, patted dry
• 3 tbsp cornflour or potato starch
• 250 ml neutral oil, for shallow-frying
• 30 g Ginger, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves Garlic, sliced
• 6 Spring onion, cut into 5 cm lengths, whites and greens apart
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 150 ml chicken stock
• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• ½ tsp Sugar
• ¼ tsp White pepper
• 1 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp Toasted sesame oil

Method

1. Toss the dry prawns in the 3 tbsp cornflour until lightly coated, shaking off the excess.
2. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat until a prawn sizzles hard on contact. Fry the prawns in two batches for 1–2 min each, until the shells turn bright red and crisp. Drain on a rack.
3. Pour off all but 2 tbsp oil. Fry the ginger over medium heat for 1 minute until fragrant and lightly golden, then add the garlic and spring-onion whites for 30 seconds.
4. Return the prawns, turn the heat to high and splash the wine around the side of the wok. Add the stock, oyster sauce, soy, sugar and pepper and bubble for 1 minute.
5. Stir the cornflour slurry, pour it in and toss until the sauce turns glossy and clings to the shells. Add the spring-onion greens and sesame oil, toss for a few seconds and serve.

Tips

• For the banquet version, use a lobster or two crabs cut into pieces; fry them a little longer, until just cooked through.
• Keeping the shells on protects the prawns from overcooking and holds the sauce, so eat with your fingers.

Sources

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

Wok and Kin Made With Lau The Woks of Life