Chinese Stuffed Prawns

This dish makes a nice change from the common "Chinese Butterfly Prawns". The prawns are first butterflied, filled with a yummy stuffing of prawns and pork, and then deep fried in a light batter so that they are crisp and golden. The filling may seem a little time consuming but it is relatively simple and leftovers can be frozen for future use (the filling can also be used to fill wontons or gow gees).

This dish makes an excellent starter to a Chinese meal, or serve with a selection of small Chinese dishes as part of a "Yum Cha" (Dim Sum) meal.

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4 Portions
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Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 16 large raw king prawns, peeled (tail left on) and butterflied

Filling

  • 100g small raw prawns, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 100g minced pork
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped water chestnut
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 spring onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp corn flour
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp shaohsing wine or dry sherry
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • pinch salt
  • pinch pepper

Batter

  • 2 tbsp rice flour
  • 3 tbsp self raising flour
  • pinch five spice powder
  • pinch salt
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 50ml iced water

To Coat

  • 3 tbsp rice flour

To Serve

  • plum sauce or soy sauce

Method

  1. Filling: Place all the filling ingredients in a food processor and puree briefly to a rough paste. If you don't have a food processor mince all the ingredients finely and mix together briskly with a wooden spoon until you have a firm paste.
  2. To Stuff Prawns: Place a generous spoonful of the stuffing along the cut side of each butterflied prawn. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
  3. Batter: Place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisks to a smooth batter.
  4. To Cook: Heat some oil in a deep fryer, wok or deep large saucepan to 180-190°C. To check that the oil is ready place a cube of bread in the oil, it should rise to the top and be crisp and golden after a few seconds. Dip the prawns in the rice flour and then coat with the batter, place 3-4 prawns in the oil for 2-3 minutes until they have risen to the top and are crisp and golden. Remove the oil and drain on kitchen paper. Keep the prawns warm while you cook those remaining.
  5. To Serve: Serve the prawns with plum or soy sauce.