Prawn Ball Soup

A bowl of piping hot soup on a raining day would certainly warm anyone's day. The base of these soups is derived from either meats (beef, pork, chicken), seafood or vegetable. These hot soups can be divided into thin or thick soups. One such thin soup is prawn ball soup. It is delicious and can be easily prepared. Most households would definitely have stock of prawns. the vegetable that goes into this soup can be varied; I have used yau mak. Other vegetables that can be used are Napa cabbage, spinach, cai xin and so on.

Ingredients:

For the prawn balls:

• 200 prawn meat
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp wheat flour
• 1 tbsp tapioca flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 chili padi (optional)

For the soup:

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 750 ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 6 leaves of yau mak

Method:

• Mince prawn meat with the minced garlic.

• Add wheat flour and tapioca flour to the minced prawn meat. Mix well.

• Add salt, pepper and chili padi. Mix well.

• Roll the batter into balls (6 pieces). Set aside.

• Saute minced garlic in sesame oil in a soup pot.

• Once the garlic is fragrant, add water to the pot.

• Let the water boil.

• Once the water boils, add the prawn balls.

• Add the seasonings once the prawn balls cook, .

• Add the yau mak and let the soup boil for a further 2 minutes.

• Turn off the fire. The soup is ready for serving.

• (Note: You may add noodles, especially glass noodles, to the soup if you like.)

Poon Choi

Step 1 - Blanch the Napa cabbage

    

Step 2 - Blanch the Shiitake mushroom

Step 3 - Blanch the prawns

Step 4 - Blanch the carrots

   

Step 5 - Blanch the Enoki mushrooms and scallops

Step 6 - Cut and place the tofu and blanch the abalone and broccoli

Poon Choi is a traditional Hakka festival meal which consists of many ingredients layered in an interesting manner in a big pot, preferably a claypot.  It is usually prepared and served during Chinese New Year as the meal signifies abundance and prosperity. However, nowadays it is prepared and eaten at any time of the year. Ingredients to prepare Poon Choi differ from family to family. But the first layer of Poon Choi is usually the Napa cabbage. The other ingredients include prawns, fish slices, scallops, squids, abalone, sea cucumber, tofu, various types of mushroom and tofu. Carrots and broccoli add colour to make it more attractive. The quantity of the various ingredients below may be varied according to one's preference.

Ingredients:

• 8 leaves of Napa cabbage, cut into 3-inch length
• 5 big prawns (White prawns are preferable. However, I used tiger prawns at this particular time.)
• 5 pieces of big fresh scallops
• 5 pieces of abalone (braised ones as the sauce will be used in the soup of the Poon Choi). I have used those brined ones as I have ran out of the braised ones. However, I have kept the braised sauce from earlier cans that I have opened.
• 5 pieces of Shiitake mushroom (soaked overnight)
• 1 packet of Enoki mushroom
• 2 tubes of soft tofu (egg or plain)
• 5 slices of carrots
• 3 broccoli florets
• 4 pieces of shallots, sliced.

Method:

• Boil 2 litres of water in a pan.

• First, blanch the Napa cabbage. Layer them onto the base of the claypot once they have softened.

• Boil the Shiitake mushrooms till they are soft. Arrange them to the side of the claypot.

• Next, boil the prawns for about 8 minutes. Boiling them any longer would render them hard. Arrange them to another side of the claypot.

• Boil the carrots till they are soft. Arrange them in the centre on top of the Napa cabbage.

• Next, blanch the Enoki mushroom. Arrange them to another side of the claypot.

• Next, blanch the scallops and then arrange them to the side of the claypot.

• Cut and steam the soft tofu. Arrange them in the claypot.

• Blanch the broccoli and place them on top.

• Next, preparing the soup:

• Fry the shallots till they are fragrant.
• Remove the crispy shallots leaving the oil behind.
• Pour the water used to blanch or boil the ingredients to the oil.
• Add the sauce of the braised abalone.
• Let the soup boil.
• Season it with salt (if the soup is not salty enough) and pepper.

• Leave the soup in the pan till the Poon Choi is ready to be consumed. Re-heat when necessary and pour it into the claypot.

• The Poon Choi is ready to be served.

Sang Har Mee

 

Sang Har Mee is a delicious noodle dish usually enjoyed by those who love the huge succulent prawns with their delectable flavour of natural sweetness. Due to this I have not added any oyster sauce nor fish sauce like some chefs do. In addition to the sweetness of the prawns, the yee mee also adds its own flavour to the thickened egg broth. While it is relatively easy to cook this noodle dish, it may be a bit difficult to find the prawns in the market as most would have been snapped up especially by the restaurants offering this dish. And eating in these restaurants may set you back by a couple of hundreds.

 Ingredients:

• 4 pcs Yee Mee
• 2 large prawns
• 3 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 pc ginger, 2 inch x 0.5 inch, sliced thinly
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small bunch of green onion, 4 inches long
• 1.5-2 litres of water
• 6 big leaves of Chinese cabbage, cut to 1-inch length 
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp corn flour + 4 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

Instructions:

• Wash and slice the huge prawns into 2 each. (Start by placing the prawn on its side. Using a sharp knife/chopper, slice through the shell along the side to cut the body into 2 with the head still intact. Next, turn the prawn onto its back with the 2 sides apart. Place the knife/chopper on the middle of the head and use your hand to hit the knife/chopper to cut the head into 2.). Remove the entrails.

• Heat up the wok with cooking and sesame oils.

• Add the ginger, garlic and green onion to the oil.

• When these are fragrant, add the water to the oil and let it boil.

• Add the prawns to the boiling water. If your prawns are very big, boil them for about 4-5 minutes till they are cooked. Smaller prawns require about 2-3 minutes. Remove the prawns and set them aside.

• Add the Chinese cabbage to the broth.

• Add the seasonings of salt, light soy sauce, pepper and brown sugar.

• Break the eggs into a bowl and then add them to the broth.

• Add Chinese cooking wine.

• Add the corn flour slurry to thicken the sauce.

• Add the yee mee to the wok for a couple of minutes (if you like to braise the yee mee). Otherwise, place the yee mee onto your serving plates and pour the broth over it. Top it with the cooked prawns.

• Serve it immediately.

Udang Masak Lemak Nenas (Prawns and Pineapple Curry)

A famous nyonya dish, Udang Masak Lemak Nenas, is delicious. It is accepted by all the members of my family. It is rich in coconut milk, is spicy, sour, sweet and salty and really brings out the aroma of the fresh turmeric, galangal and ginger. It can really whets one's appetite and one bowl of rice is definitely not enough. For us, we like the sauce to be thick and spicy. However, one can add more water if a thinner sauce if preferred and reduce the amount of chili for a less spicy sauce.

Ingredients:

a. For blending

• 10 g chili padi
• 8 g dried chili
• 75 g shallots
• 25 g garlic
• 50 g lemongrass (white part only)
• 20 g fresh turmeric
• 20 g galangal
• 20 g ginger
• 25 g belacan, toasted
• 15 g candlenut
• 1 cup water

b. For cooking

• all of the blended ingredients
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 350 g pineapple slices
• 3 g assam keping
• 1 cup water
• 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised 
• 1 cups thick santan
• 2 pcs of kafir lime leaves
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 8-10 pcs big prawns

Method:

• Blend all ingredients stated above under "For Blending".

• Heat up pan with cooking oil.

• Add all of the blended ingredients to the pan.

• Fry them till they are fragrant and oil splits from the ingredients.

• Add pineapple slices.

• Add water.

• Cook till the pineapple slices are soft.

• Add water, assam keping and lemongrass.

• Let the sauce slowly simmers for about 5 minutes.

• Add the santan and let it boil. (If sauce is too thick, add some water. It should not be too thin either.)

• Add kafir lime leaves.

• Season with salt and sugar.

• Add the prawns. (Do not overcook.)

• Garnish with kafir lime leaves.

• Serve with white rice.

Assam Prawns

 

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.

Spicy Fried Glass Noodles

 

      

 

Spicy Fried Glass Noodles is an easy meal which can be speedily dished up when you are tired of spending lots of time cooking in your kitchen. It is also a versatile dish; you may add seafood or meat in it. Here, I have used prawns to cook it. It is such a yummy dish that my son had asked me to cook it a few times since I first cooked it.

Ingredients:

• 150 g glass noodles (My rough guide is 75 g per person.)
• 4-6 large prawns
• 2 tbsp dried prawns
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 inches ginger
• 1 stalk green onions
• 1 tbsp chili paste or sambal (Sambal will make the noodles more tasty as it has shrimp paste, garlic and onions incorporated into the chili paste.)
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp cooking oil (Add more if you want your glass noodles to be glossy.)
• 1/2 cup water

 

Method:

• Soak glass noodles in warm water for about 8-10 minutes. Glass noodles bought from one shop may turn soft faster than those bought from another. Feel them at the 8th minute to ensure that they are not too soft. Remove and set them aside.

• Wash, cut off the rostrum, antenna, legs and tails and de-vein the prawns.

• Wash and pound/chop the dried prawns.

• Mince the garlic.

• Mince the ginger.

• Wash and cut the green onions to 1/2 inch length.

• Heat up the cooking oil in a wok.

• Saute garlic, ginger, chili paste or sambal and dried prawns till fragrant.

• Add the prawns and fry till they are half-cooked.

• Add water and let it boil.

• Add the seasonings - light and dark soy sauces, salt and pepper.

• Add the glass noodles and fry them till they are cooked. Sprinkle them with green onions. Give them a quick stir and ladle them up onto a serving plate.

Baked Cheesy Seafood Fried Rice

 

I am sure all of us will fry rice once in a while especially when we have lots of cooked rice in our fridge or when we are short of time to cook a full meal or when we run out of idea on what to cook. Fried Rice is the easiest meal to cook up, a single pot with all the required carbohydrate, protein, fats, minerals and vitamins in it. I usually add a combination of such ingredients as eggs, prawns, char siew, carrots, peas, maize, long beans, cabbage, onion and bird eyes chilies in my fried rice. Another delicious way of frying rice is to add sambal and crispy anchovies to it.

I brought my simple fried rice to another level by adding cheese and baking it. It is simply delicious for the palate.

Ingredients:

• 200 g overnight rice
• 1 egg
• 75 g fish fillet
• 75 g prawns
• 75 g squids
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped and divided into 2
• 1 tbsp flour
• 125 g milk
• 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• 100 g grated Mozzarella cheese
• 4 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

• Heat up the kuali with cooking oil.

• Fry the fish fillet till cooked. Ladle up and set aside.

• Add prawns to the kuali and fry till cooked. Ladle up and set aside.

• Add squids to the kuali and fry till cooked. Ladle up and set aside.

• Add half of the chopped garlic to the kuali.

• When the garlic is fragrant, add rice to the kuali.

• Break the egg onto the rice. Fry the rice till it is dry.

• Add 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper to the rice. Fry the rice till the seasonings are incorporated.

• Ladle up the rice into a baking dish. Set aside.

• Add butter to a saucepan. Let the butter melt over medium heat.

• Saute the remaining chopped garlic till fragrant.

• Add flour to the butter, stirring continuously till both are fully incorporated to form a roux.

• Add milk to the roux, stirring continuously till a thick sauce is formed.

• Add the fish fillet, prawns and squids to the sauce.

• Add the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper to the sauce. Stir.

• Pour the sauce with the seafood onto the rice in the baking dish. (You may stir and mix the sauce with the rice or you may just leave the sauce on top of the rice.)

• Sprinkle cheese on top and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 deg C for 25-30 minutes.

Kam Heong Squids and Prawns

Kam Heong is one of the most delicious ways of cooking crabs, prawns, clams, squids and chicken. The words are in Cantonese and can be literally translated as "golden fragrance". The kam heong spice/sauce is made up of a) blended dried shrimps, shallots, garlic and chilies, b) lemongrass and curry leaves and c) curry powder, oyster sauce, light and dark soy sauce and sugar. Kam heong dishes are best served with white rice.

This is the first time I try cooking this style, with squids and prawns. Later I will cook with my other favourite seafood like crabs and clams. Kam Heong Squids and Prawns turned out very delicious; not only tasty but also very fragrant. 

Ingredients: (A small portion only)

• 100 g squids (the tubes only and sliced in a slanting manner both ways from left to right and right to left)
• 100 g prawns
• 8 pc shallots
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4-5 pc bird's eye chili or chili padi
• 30 g dried prawns, soaked and rinsed, coarsely chopped (Can be more depending on one's liking.)
• 1 pc lemongrass, white part only, sliced slanting into 3 pieces, smashed
• 5 sprigs of curry leaves
• 1 tbsp curry powder (seafood)
• 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce (More, up to 1 tbsp, if you want a darker dish but it can be bitter.)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
• 4 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

• Blanch the squid flowers and set them aside.

• Blanch the prawns and set them aside.

• Blend the shallots, garlic and chili padi.

• Mix the seasonings - curry powder, dark & light soy sauces, oyster sauce, sugar and salt.

• Heat up oil in a wok.

• Add the dried prawns. Fry them till they are fragrant.

• Add the blended ingredients, lemongrass and curry leaves. Saute till they are dry and fragrant.

• Once the ingredients are dry and fragrant, add the seasonings.

• Stir until all are incorporated.

• Add squid flowers and prawns.

• Stir till the squid flowers and prawns are fully incorporated with the sauteed ingredients.

• Dish up and serve with white rice.

Crispy Bean Sprout Fritters

Bean Sprout Fritters is a delicious savoury snack. It is a very versatile dish; you choose what you want to put into the fritters besides the main ingredient, bean sprout. You can make it very crispy or the soft kind. It can be eaten by itself or with chili sauce or tomato sauce.


Ingredients:

• 10 g bean sprout
• 3-inch carrot
• 1 medium size onion
• 1 stalk green onion
• 2-3 chili padi
• 120 g rice flour
• 60 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg (leave out for the crispy version)
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper powder, to taste
• Water
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Wash the bean sprouts and rid them of the hulls (outer shells) and the roots (if they are too long). Drain the bean sprouts till they are dry.

• Julienne the carrot.

• Peel and cut the onion lengthwise.

• Wash and cut the green onion into 1 cm long.

• Wash and chop up the chili padi.

• Add rice flour, all-purpose flour and baking powder to a mixing bowl.

• Add salt and black pepper powder.

• Add water and stir till the mixture is of a smooth consistency, not too thick nor too watery.

• Add bean sprout, carrot, onion, green onion and chili padi to the flour mixture. Stir till they are mixed up evenly.

• Heat up a wok with cooking oil. (The amount of oil must cover the batter for a crispy fritter.)

• Spoon the batter into the wok. Do not stir the batter until the ingredients have set.

• Once the batter has turned golden brown, turn it to brown the other side.

• Dish out onto a kitchen towel to let the excess oil run off.

• Serve it hot.

Cheesy Garlic Butter Prawns

I love prawns and so do my second daughter and son. It has always been cereal prawns, soy sauce prawns, steamed prawns with egg, steamed prawns on glass noodles, prawns in tamarind juice or black pepper prawns. For a change, I cooked the Cheesy Garlic Butter Prawns for us as we love cheese too besides the prawns.


Ingredients:

• 8 pieces of large white prawns
• 4 tbsp butter
• 6 cloves garlic
• 100 ml milk
• 3 tbsp grated cheese (any kind)
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Wash and de-vein the prawns.

• Heat up enough cooking oil in a kuali to deep fry the prawns.

• When the oil is hot, put in the prawns. Fry till the prawns are just cooked. If they are deep fried too long, the meat will be hard.

• Remove the prawns and set aside.

• Remove most of the oil from the kuali, leaving about 1 tablespoon behind.

• Add butter to the kuali and let it melt.

• Saute the garlic till fragrant but not brown.

• Add the milk and let it boil slightly.

• Add cheese and stir till it melts.

• Turn off the fire.

• Add the prawns back to the kuali and stir till they are covered with the cheese sauce.

• Ladle up and serve.

Prawn Fritters

Prawn fritters are very tasty and appeal to many people. They are usually made for snacks and eaten with chili sauce, tomato sauce or mayonnaise. The best prawn fritters would be those which are very crunchy. And the crunchiness should last for at least 2 to 3 hours. So the mixing of the batter is very important. One can add any vegetables to the batter although the common ones would be green onion, carrots and chilies. Besides these, we can add bean sprout, pea spout and fried shallots.

Ingredients:

• 150 g small prawns
• 2 stalks green onions (about 45 g after cutting up them)
• 40 g carrot
• 1 red chili
• 100 g rice flour
• 50 g wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 200 g water
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Wash the prawns and discard any heads which have been dislodged from the body. Also remove all feelers. Set aside.

• Wash and cut up the green onions into 0.5 cm long. (You can always add more if you wish.)

• Peel and wash the carrot. Then chop it up to get roughly 45 g. (Feel free to add more.)

• Wash and de-seed the red chili. Then chop it up to as tiny pieces as possible. (It is okay to add more. After all, red chili is not very spicy.)

• Add rice flour, wheat flour, baking powder, black pepper powder and salt into a mixing bowl.

• Add the water slowly to the bowl, stirring the flours as you are adding it until you reach a smooth consistency which is neither too thick nor too water. A thick batter will not give you a crunchy fritter. If too runny, you may find it too difficult to fry.

• Heat up a non-stick (if possible) pan with cooking oil (about 1 cm). I pan-fry instead of deep-fry my batter.

•  Scoop a small ladle of batter into the pan. Use the bottom of the ladle to thin the batter and make it round.

• Put a few prawns on the batter.

• Once the bottom is golden brown, flip the batter over and cook the prawns.

• Remove the fritter from the pan once the prawns are cooked onto a kitchen towel to soak out any excess oil.

• Serve with chili sauce, tomato sauce or mayonnaise.