In this episode of Taste of a Traveller, Brett heads back to his old stomping ground of Hong Kong.
Taste of a Traveller Hong Kong – Crispy Prawns from Olivado Limited on Vimeo.
He starts the day by taking a 25 minute cable-car ride to visit the Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha, before stopping off in a local fishing village where he buys ingredients for today’s lunch.
Invited to the village by Aunty Ping, she then teaches Brett how to make a delicious fish stir-fry in the local tradition. Taking some left-overs from lunch, Brett then pays a visit to a Monastery, where he learns the art of Kung fu from the local monks.
It’s time to come home after that and Brett uses his new-found knowledge to whip up some mouth-watering prawns for his wife Tracy.
“The thing that really got me about food in Hong Kong was its simplicity; nothing was over complicated and it let the flavours of the actual produce you were using shine.”
“We had a lot of prawns in Hong Kong, and they were sweet and delicious,” he says. “So we’re going to do some crispy prawns with some chilli and garlic dipping sauce.”
Brett start by slicing the prawns lengthwise, down the back. “Without going the whole way through,” Brett warns, “that way, when it cooks, it opens up like a butterfly!”
Brett then starts on the marinade to soak the prawns in. He starts with some Chinese rice wine, a little bit of garlic, some grated ginger and about a table spoon of soy sauce. After mixing it altogether, Brett then adds the prawns, making sure they’re all covered, before putting them in the fridge to marinate.
“Olivado peanut oil is perfect for this recipe because it adds another level of flavour.” Brett explains. “I’m going to deep-fry the prawns, so I’m going to use the whole bottle and heat it up to about 170 to 180 degrees.”
While the Olivado peanut oil heats up, it’s time to prepare the prawns. Brett takes them out of the fridge, holding each one by the tail, carefully dips it into cornflower, making sure to shake off any excess.
“Straight into the egg after that,” he says, “and then into the breadcrumbs.” Once all the prawns are coated they only take a couple of minutes each in the oil.
“Make sure you turn them over halfway through cooking to make sure they’re covered in that delicious peanut oil.”
Once the prawns are nice and golden, Brett takes them out and lets them drain on a paper towel to get rid of the excess oil. “The trick here,” Brett explains “is to get them from this draining plate to your serving plate as fast as possible.”
Garnish with some spring onions and there you have it! Delicious crispy prawns made from scratch.
If you would like to try this delicious crispy prawn dish, or any of the meals featured in the Taste of a Traveller series, then you’ll need Olivado’s delicious range of products.
Take a look at the other Chefs featured on our blog, and if you’ve any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.