Singapore Chilli Prawns

This Singapore chilli prawn dish is one of my favourite seafood dishes. The prawns are succulent and taste so wonderfully good with the home-made delicious sweet chilli sauce. This dish is really quick and easy to make.

It tastes salty, sweet and sour with a hint of hotness. No worries, the hotness is very mild. My family found it’s just right. Having said that, you can adjust the amount of red chillies and ginger according to your preference.

Every household also has its version of this Singapore chilli prawn dish. I like adding some red onions to add some texture. Red onions are mostly used in salads. It can be eaten on its own. So make sure you don’t over-cook it.

As for the prawns, you can use fresh or frozen ones. The taste is equally good. Feel free to use any prawns you like, large, medium or small as long as they are good. If you and your family are into spicy foods, add more red chilli or chilli sauce. This recipe is very forgiving. And you won’t go wrong.

Check out the tutorial video:

Singapore Chilli Prawns Recipe

(Printable recipe)
By Christine’s Recipes
Course: Prawn, Seafood
Cuisine: Asian
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 12 prawns
• 1 to 2 shallots
• 1 ginger, thumb-sized, peeled
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic
• 1 to 2 red chillies
• 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
• ½ red onion, roughly cut
• 1 to 2 spring onion, diced

Sauce:

• 1 cup water
• 3 Tbsp ketchup
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp white rice vinegar
• ½ tsp salt

Thickenings:

• 2 tsp cornflour (cornflour)
• 2 Tbsp water

Method :

1. Peel and remove the heads of the prawns. Rinse well. Wipe dry with kitchen papers. With a sharp knife, lightly slice the back of each prawn. Be sure not to cut it separately. Devein.
2. Put the shallots, ginger, garlic and red chillies in a food processor. Process in a paste. Set aside.
3. Mix all the sauce ingredients well. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Place the prawns in one layer without overlapping each other. Cook until both sides turn colour. Sprinkle wine. At this stage, you don’t need to cook them through as further cooking with other ingredients later. Set aside.
5. In the same wok, add some more oil. Saute the red chilli paste until aromatic. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the sauce. Bring it to boil. Cook until it’s reduced by half. Toss back the prawns together with red onion. When it boils again, stir in the thickenings and cook to your preferred consistency. Sprinkle spring onion for garnish. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Notes：

• If you don’t have a food processor, you might use a sharp knife to finely chop the red chillies, garlic, shallot and ginger.
• To get the best results, don’t over-cook the red onion to retain some textures.