Name: Fried Prawns with Black Sauce
Yield: Serves 3–4
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: Liquid lard or peanut oil 2 Tbsp; Salt 1 tsp; Shaoxing rice wine 1 Tbsp; Sesame oil ¼ tsp; Superior dark soy sauce 1 Tbsp; Purple onion ½, small, peeled and cut into thin wedges; Cold water 500 ml (16 fl oz / 2 cups); Sugar 1 tsp; Ginger 3 slices; Red chilli 1, deseeded and cut into thin strips; Spring onion (scallion) 1, cut into 4-cm (1½-in) lengths; Fresh big prawns (shrimps) 500 g (1 lb 1½ oz), about 10–12 prawns

Preparation info

Serves
3–4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Chinese Heritage Cooking

By Christopher Tan and Amy Van

Published 2018

About

This dish reflects the purity of the Cantonese approach to cuisine—find the best ingredients and bring out their essential flavour with light cooking. This classic homestyle dish should be made with the freshest prawns (shrimps) you can get; dry-frying them as an initial step turns them deep red and enhances their aroma. Do use lard if you have it available, as it gives the prawns a special fragrance.