Special Salt Prawns with Crispy Garlic, Onions & Chilli

Name: Special Salt Prawns with Crispy Garlic, Onions & Chilli
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves: 4-6
Cuisine: Taiwanese
Ingredients: Iceberg lettuce leaves and chopped spring onions (scallions), to serve; vegetable oil, for frying; 30 g (1 oz/¼ cup) cornflour (cornstarch); 2 teaspoons sichuan peppercorns; juice of 2 limes; 2 teaspoons fish sauce; 4 black peppercorns; 2 teaspoons soft brown sugar; 1 large dried chilli, or sliced fresh chilli; 1 garlic clove; 24 large raw prawns, peeled and deveined; 3 teaspoons sea salt flakes; 2 fresh long red chillies, cut into 1 cm (⅜ inch) slices; 2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced; large pinch of chilli flakes

Preparation info

Serves:
4-6

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
30 min

Appears in

My Street Food Kitchen

By Jennifer Joyce

Published 2015

About

The special salt in these prawns is made up of the umami flavours of sichuan peppercorns and chillies which create a slightly numbing effect on the tongue. Sichuan peppercorns are not actually a peppercorn but a flower bud. When combined with chilli, they are a powerful flavouring for stir-fries or fried food.

Ingredients

vegetable oil, for frying
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
2 fresh long red chillies, cut into 1 cm (⅜ inch) slices

Method

To make the special salt, toast the sichuan and black peppercorns in a small dry frying pan over medium heat for 1 minute or until fragrant. Allow to cool, then finely grind in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Pour into a bowl and stir in the salt, chilli flakes and cornflour.

To make the dipping sauce, crush the garlic and chilli in a mortar and pestle or finely chop together and