INTRODUCTION

I do not think I need to introduce this dish and in fact, I also do not know how to promote this dish.

It is such a common prawn dish in my house when I was young   but the prawns are much smaller then, at least 2 times smaller than what you saw in this illustration. When prawns are cheap, my late parents would bought some, they would  blanched the prawns and  served with soya sauce. This is a fast way of cooking prawns and taste is not compromise if the prawns are fresh. However, this dish is not ideal for prawns that are not fresh.

I have decided to blog this dish for records. I have also forgotten about this simple and humble dish and has not eaten the dish for at least 20 years. Well prawns is not a favourite in my family and i hope this simple way of cooking will interest my kids. As usual, my girl refused to touch the prawns but i heard no complaints from my wife and boy. We finished the dish during the meal and it is a 1 kilogram prawns shared by 3 persons.

This dish though is simple but I think many may not be aware of how to get rid of the fishiness of the prawns and the right timing to cook the prawns. Prawns meat will be tough if it is over cooked and therefore time of blanching is of critical importance. As for the sauce, it is full of variations and what i am sharing is a simple localized sauce that we used to eat when young.

“白灼虾是广东省广州地区一道汉族传统名菜，属粤菜系。主要食材是虾，主要烹饪工艺是白灼，“白灼”二字指的是将原滋原味的鲜虾直接放进清水里煮食。广州人喜欢用白灼之法来做虾，为的是保持其鲜、甜、嫩的原味，然后将虾剥壳蘸酱汁而食。” （Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/469260.htm)

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 4-5 adult servings

• 1 kg of medium size prawns *
• 1/2 cup of cooking rice wine
• 5 cm of ginger, sliced in thick pieces
• 5 sprigs of spring onion, cut into big chunks
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil

* It is advisable to use medium size prawns for this dish as the meat are more tender. Big size prawns can taste like lobster and it took much longer time to cook to optimum texture. In addition, only fresh prawns are suitable for this dish. Prawns with black spot is not advisable and you will need to use sauces to mask the fishiness. For fresh prawns, the prawn head must attached to the body and the body is firm to touch.

Sauce Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of dark or light soya sauces
• 10 calamansi or local lime, juice extracted (can be substitute with white vinegar)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or sliced
• 1 red chilli or 5 chilli padi, cut into small pieces

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Clean the prawns and  cut off the sharp part of the prawns, if preferred. It is advisable that medium sized prawns be used as the meat is more tender.

• In a pot, put some water adequate to cover the prawns, add the oil, rice wine, ginger and spring onion and bring to boil. Once it boils, add the prawns and let it blanch for about 1-2 minutes depending on size of the prawns. For this illustration using medium size prawns, i have blanched for 1.5 minutes. The timing will depend on the size of your prawns. If you are uncertain if the prawns are cooked, take out one prawn, shelled and try the doneness before draining all the others.

• If you want more springy prawns, you can transfer the blanched prawns to the icy cold water. This is especially good for shrimp cocktails.

• For sauce preparation, mix all the sauce ingredients together .

• The prawns are best served hot with the sauces. However, it can also be served cold as an appetizer dish.

CONCLUSION

I knew how to cook this dish and I presumed every house chef also know how to cook also.  However, I did do some research before I issue the recipe. I have to be franked that I always over cooked my prawns previously. With this 1-2 minutes rule. I managed to cook the prawns with a tender texture that my family liked. As for the sauces, that is very basic and simple and is what I liked. You can always use your favourite sauces. Remember, any fresh prawns can be used for this dish.

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