Assam Prawns is one dish that will really whet our appetite as it is sweet and sour at the same time. This savoury Nyonya dish is best eaten with white rice. I love cooking this dish with white sea prawns. It is easy to cook as it uses few ingredients like tamarind, light and dark soy sauces, pepper and sugar.
Ingredients:
- 9 pieces of white prawns
- 50 g tamarind paste
- 200 g hot water
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1-2 tbsp sugar (1 tbsp for tangy prawns or 2 for sweeter ones)
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 6 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 stalk of green onions
Method:
- Wash the prawns.
- Remove rostrum, antenna, legs and tip of the tails of the prawns with a pair of scissors.
- Use a pair of scissors to cut the shell lengthwise and use a toothpick to devein the prawns.
- Lightly rinse the prawns and set aside.
- Soak tamarind paste in hot water in a bowl for 5-10 minutes.
- Sieve the tamarind juice to remove the seeds.
- Add light soy sauce and pepper to the tamarind juice.
- Arrange the prawns in a flat plate and pour the tamarind mixture over them to marinade them for at least 30 minutes. Marinade them longer if you want the prawns to be very tangy. Mid-way through, turn the prawns over to ensure the other sides are also marinated.
- Heat up cooking oil in a wok.
- When oil is hot, add the prawns to it without the marinating sauce. Set aside the sauce for later use.
- Fry the prawns about 4-5 minutes on each side. Take care not to overcook them.
- Remove the prawns from the wok and set aside.
- Add sugar and dark soy sauce to the marinating sauce. Mix well.
- Add the marinating sauce to the oil and let it boil till the sauce is thick and shiny.
- Once the sauce has reduced, add the fried prawns to it. Let the sauce coat the prawns.
- Arrange the prawns on a serving plate and sprinkle the green onions on them.
- Serve with white rice.
