Salt and Pepper Prawns

I think many people would have tried or heard of this popular Chinese dish, salt and pepper prawns (椒鹽蝦). It’s quite easy to find this dish on the menu of a Chinese restaurant.

The basic requirement of cooking this delicious dish is to get really balanced taste of salt and pepper mixture. The secret ingredient is a bit of five-spice powder.

Salt and pepper mixture

Either fresh or frozen prawns will taste yummy after deep-frying.

Mind you, after deep-frying the prawns, the oil is quite messy. I found it’s hardly to recycle and use the oil again. So I used a small amount of oil just enough to cover the prawns in order to save money.

Salt and Pepper Prawns Recipe

(Printable recipe)
By Christine’s Recipes
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 8 to 9 medium prawns (shrimps)
• 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
• vegetable oil for deep-frying
• 2 Tbsp cornflour
• ¼ lemon for garnish
• spring onion for garnish

Salt and pepper mixture

• 1½ tsp table salt
• 1½ tsp mixed ground black and white pepper
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• ⅛ tsp five-spice powder

Method:

1. Trim the head and tail of prawns as well as devein. Rinse well with cold running water. Drain and pat dry the shrimp with paper towels.
2. Heat oil to 140C (284F). You might test whether the oil is ready or not by dropping a cube of bread in it. If the bread cube turns brown in about 45 seconds, the oil is ready.
3. Coat the prawns with cornflour and shake off any excess flour. Deep-fry the prawn in batches until cooked through. You’ll find the prawn turns red-pink in colour and curl up when it’s done. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper mixture. Put the shredded lettuce on a plate, top with the salt and pepper prawn, garnish with spring onion and lemon when served.

Notes:

• Store any excess salt and pepper mixture in an airtight container. It’s very good for steamed or deep-fried chicken as well.
• Make sure that the prawns are really dry before adding them into hot oil.