Steamed Garlic Butter Prawns! A dish that will remind you of the sea, with its naturally sweet and savoury flavours in the prawns and stock! Come and know the secret behind preserving the freshness of this dish.
Wash, clean and prepare the prawns. See below for my Video Tutorial on How to Clean and Prepare Prawns.
Pat the prawns dry and add 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of sugar to it. Mix gently without breaking the heads of the prawns until the salt and sugar are evenly distributed.
Wash the spring onion and cut into small pieces.
Melt the butter in the microwave for 20 secs. Add 2 TBsp chopped garlic to it and set aside.
Line a stainless plate with the baking sheet, making sure the sheet is long enough to line the dish, as well as to wrap over the prawns.
Arrange the prawns on the stainless steel plate lined with baking sheet. Avoid stacking the prawns on top of each other as they won't cook evenly.
Spread the garlic mixture over the prawns and cover it with the baking sheet.
COOKING METHOD
In a wok, add sufficient water for steaming and bring to a boil over high heat.
When the water is boiling, place the plate of prawns on the rack and steam for 2 1/2 mins.
Turn off the heat. Unwrap the baking sheet, and add the chopped spring onions on top of the prawns.
In a small pan, heat up 2 TBsp of oil over high heat. Add 4 TBsp of chopped garlic to the pan and fry till golden brown. Remove the crispy garlic and set aside.
Reheat the oil, quickly pour the hot oil over the spring onions.
Add 1 TBsp of Hua Tiao Chiew and 1 tsp of sesame oil to the prawn.
Place the crispy garlic on top of the prawns and serve hot.
Notes
MARKETING TIPS
Use 'Ang Kar Hae' (Red Legged Prawn) for this recipe. If you can't get hold of that, you can also use Big Tiger Prawn as a substitute.
COOKING TIPS
Do not oversteam the prawns or they will be hard and dry. For bigger prawns, you will need to steam it for an extra minute or so.
Use baking paper to wrap the prawns when steaming. The prawns will not lose much water when they is wrapped up with baking sheet, thus retaining their natural sweetness and maintaining their crunchiness.
Be careful not to be scorched by the steam inside when uncovering the baking sheet..
Pour hot oil over the spring onions to release a wonderful fragrance from the spring onions - this step is essential!
For steaming, the water should reach the same level as the top of the steaming rack.