Showing posts with label prawn recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prawn recipes. Show all posts

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Butter Prawns – Malaysian Style

Butter Prawns - aka shrimp - are crunchy, spicy and fragrant with golden egg floss and crisp curry leaves. They are a specialty at Malaysian Chinese eateries and one of our family favorites.

Food Lust People Love: Butter Prawns - aka shrimp - are crunchy, spicy and fragrant with golden egg floss and crisp curry leaves. They are a specialty at Malaysian Chinese eateries and one of our family favorites.

If you’ve been reading this space for a while, you know that I have a very soft spot for a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur called Mei Keng Fatt. It is super casual (think plastic chairs and paper napkins) but the food is delicious. The menu includes all manner of Chinese dishes with chicken, beef, pork and even ostrich but the specialties are chili crab and butter prawns.

We went often on a Friday night and our order never varied: black pepper beef, chili crab, cashew chicken, baby kailan with garlic and butter prawns. We’d finish the meal with fresh mango served on a platter covered with crushed ice. Divine!

When we moved on to Singapore in 2007, we were disappointed to find that what the seafood restaurants there called butter prawns were a terrible concoction that substituted butter-fried oats for the egg yolk floss. Sure, that’s probably easier but it’s not the same! And their chili crab sauce seemed to be made with ketchup. What up, Singapore?

After moving back to KL in 2009, we frequented Mei Keng Fatt even more often because we'd missed it so! Also we figured our days in Malaysia were numbered and we wanted to take advantage of its delights as many times as possible before the next transfer. I don’t even want to guess how often we went (or picked up takeaway) between 2009 and 2012!

Butter Prawns – Malaysian Style

Now, of course, I have to make my own butter prawns. This recipe does take some time but none of the steps are hard. Just take it slow and you’ll get there. I promise it will be so worth it! This recipe is adapted from one on Malaysian Delicacies.

Ingredients
4 eggs
2.2 lbs or 1kg (weight without head and shell) large size prawns or shrimp
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup or 40g cornstarch
1/3 cup or 75g ghee (clarified butter)
4 to 5 sprigs fresh curry leaves
8 hot chili peppers, chopped
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil

Method
Separate your eggs putting the yolks in a small bowl and one white in another. Put the other three whites in a sealed contain and put them in the refrigerator for another use. (I like to use mine for mini pavlovas or macaroons.)  Beat the yolks well. Beat the single egg white well. 
 
Wash and peel the prawns, leaving just the tails on. Sprinkle them with the salt and sugar. Add the well-beaten egg white to the bowl and stir well to distribute the salt and sugar and to coat the prawns with the egg white.

Sprinkle on the cornstarch with a small sieve, stirring well to coat. Set aside. 

Sprinkling on the cornstarch.

To make the egg floss, heat a wok or large nonstick pan then add the ghee. Once the ghee is hot, pour in the beaten egg yolks in a very thin stream while stirring it continuously to get fine shreds of yolk. Since my pan is nonstick, I like to use a rubber-coated whisk for this. 

Adding the beaten egg yolks to the hot pan in a thin steam, whisking whisking!

Keep stirring over medium heat until you have finished pouring all the egg yolks. 

Still whisking while adding the beaten egg yolks

It bubbles up but persevere and keep stirring until it turns into golden crispy floss.

Egg floss bubbling up!

Turn off the stove. Over the pan, spoon the egg floss into a sieve so the ghee drips back into the pan. 

Spooning the floss into a sieve, over the pan.

Set the sieve over a bowl to keep draining or pour the floss onto some paper towels to drain. 

The golden floss draining on paper towels.

Add the canola oil to the pan. Lift the prawns one by one out of the bowl and add them in batches to the hot oil, cooking until they are golden and crispy on both sides. 

Adding the prawns to the hot oil

Remove them to a pan lined with newspaper and topped with clean paper towels.  Continue frying the prawns until they are all golden and crispy. 

Draining the fried prawns on paper towels

Discard all but three tablespoons of the oil and heat the pan again over a medium flame. Add in the chopped chili peppers and curry leaves. 

Chili peppers and fresh curry leaves

You’ll want your vent hood on for this step to extract the spicy air from the chili peppers, if it wasn’t on already for the prawn frying. You'll notice there are no photos of this step. That's because I was coughing too much. Lesson learned!

Update: Found some photos of a prior time I made this and had the vent hood fan on! Truly it's one of our favorites. 

Frying the curry leaves and chili peppers

Fry until the curry leaves turn crispy and a bit darker, which takes just a minute or so. Add the prawns back in and give a few stirs to rewarm them all. 

Adding the prawns back in!

Add most of the egg floss in and stir. 

Spoon the prawns onto a serving plate and sprinkle with the reserved egg floss to serve. 

Food Lust People Love: Butter Prawns - aka shrimp - are crunchy, spicy and fragrant with golden egg floss and crisp curry leaves. They are a specialty at Malaysian Chinese eateries and one of our family favorites.

Enjoy!


It’s Sunday FunDay and time to get ready for a lunar new year celebration to welcome  the Year of the Tiger with a delicious list of Chinese or Asian inspired recipes! Check out the list below. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime

 
We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.


Pin these Butter Prawns - Malaysian Style!

Food Lust People Love: Butter Prawns - aka shrimp - are crunchy, spicy and fragrant with golden egg floss and crisp curry leaves. They are a specialty at Malaysian Chinese eateries and one of our family favorites.

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Friday, June 15, 2018

Grilled Pineapple Shrimp Salad #FishFridayFoodies

More than just the sum of its simple parts, this beautiful grilled pineapple shrimp salad will impress your friends and family with its looks and flavor.

Food Lust People Love: More than just the sum of its simple parts, this beautiful grilled pineapple shrimp salad will impress your friends and family with its looks and taste. Pretty and tasty, perfect for your next dinner party.


Years ago when we lived in Brazil, the churrascaria near our house would serve grilled pineapple as a dessert option. No cinnamon or other seasonings, just pineapple with the natural caramelization that comes from the application of heat to sugar. It makes the pineapple taste sweeter.

Which made me think. Surely I could create the same effect with my grill pan. (It’s already way too hot to light the barbecue pit here in Dubai!) I am pleased to report it works! And grilled pineapple is the perfect base for a small salad topped with shrimp.

This month my Fish Friday Foodies friends are sharing salads with seafood so make sure to scroll down to check out the rest.


Grilled Pineapple Shrimp Salad

Pretty and tasty, perfect for your next dinner party. I use fresh pineapple here, even leaving in the core because it is usually tender enough to eat. If you must substitute canned pineapple, choose the unsweetened ones in plain juice.

Ingredients - to serve 4 as an appetizer or first course
For the salad:
4 slices fresh pineapple
Small handful cilantro
4-5 leaves baby cos lettuce
1 cucumber
1 small red chili pepper
4 jumbo shrimp, cooked and peeled - I leave just the tail on because it's pretty
Freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:
1 tablespoon minced onion
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
pinch salt

Method
Heat your grill pan over a high heat then grill the pineapple slices for just a few minutes on each side, until you have created charred lines where the natural sugars have caramelized. Remove to a plate and leave to cool.


Chop the cilantro and set aside a few leaves for garnish. Quarter the cucumber lengthwise and remove the seeds. Cut the cucumbers in little cubes. Chop the lettuce roughly  into small pieces. Slice the chili pepper.



Make the salad dressing by whisking all of the ingredients together in small bowl.


Put the cucumber, lettuce and cilantro (saving a sprig or two for garnish) into a small bowl and spoon over three quarters of the dressing. Toss lightly.



Divide the salad into four and place one pile on top of each of the cooled pineapple slices.


Top with the sliced chili pepper and shrimp. Garnish with the reserved cilantro. Drizzle over the last of the dressing on top of the shrimp.

Food Lust People Love: More than just the sum of its simple parts, this beautiful grilled pineapple shrimp salad will impress your friends and family with its looks and taste. Pretty and tasty, perfect for your next dinner party.

Finish with a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper.


Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: More than just the sum of its simple parts, this beautiful grilled pineapple shrimp salad will impress your friends and family with its looks and taste. Pretty and tasty, perfect for your next dinner party.

If you are a food blogger and would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies, please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 at gmail.com. We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month.  Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

Many thanks to Sid from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking for this month's great Fish Fridays Foodies theme. Check out all the wonderful salads with seafood we are sharing!




Pin it!


Food Lust People Love: More than just the sum of its simple parts, this beautiful grilled pineapple shrimp salad will impress your friends and family with its looks and taste. Pretty and tasty, perfect for your next dinner party.
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