Butter Prawns. This is our regular order each time we visit our favourite family restaurant. This has been so for many years now. This version has the sauces sticking creamily to the prawns and is different from other eateries. 

My Mum had tried to 'crack' the recipe but she never quite succeeded. Of late, I have been experimenting with it. There is no written recipe to guide me but brief conversations with the cook and experiences from cooking other dishes helped me to figure out the method. In fact the main technique which makes the difference is that the oil needs to be hot enough. 

I am still perfecting it. But I am happy with the version I made tonight. Sharing this recipe will be helpful for some of you who may be interested in cooking this at home or just wanting to understand this technique of cooking prawns. The wasabi, mango and mayo sauce prawn uses a similar method. The best thing about home cooking is the cost you save as large prawn dishes are expensive in restaurants.

Tiger Prawns

The prawns coated with flour and about to be fried

Fry the prawns in very hot oil

Preparing the Prawns
1 kilo large prawns

Marinade:
1 teaspoon soda bicarbonate
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 egg
1t salt
1t sugar

Use large prawns. Tiger or the white Angka (which is even sweeter) will work. Large prawns are easy to peel. Shell the prawns completely. Tug the end piece and the tail should come out nicely. Keep the heads and shells for stock-making. Slit the flesh at the back of the peeled prawns, deeply to more than the half-way point to butterfly them. This way, you expose more of the meat for sauce coating and the prawn will open up nicely when fried. If you see any veins, just remove.

corn flour
rice flour
tapioca flour
custard powder
soda bicarbonate
egg
Crack an egg and dip the prawns in it. Then coat it with flour with this ratio: 2 parts Rice flour, 2 parts Tapioca Flour, 1 part custard powder and 0.5 baking soda. Tapioca flour makes for a crispier batter but you moderate that with some rice flour. Baking soda helps it to stay crisp longer. Don't use water for the batter and coat it only once as you want a very thin batter.

Meanwhile, heat up the oil in the pot or wok for deep frying. The oil should be shimmering and remember to use oil with a high smoking point like peanut or vegetable oil. The oil must be hot enough so that the flour will stick to the prawns. If there is a thin layer of batter on your prawns, the sauce will coat it nicely.

Remember to shake off excess flour and fry the prawns in small batches to avoid lowering the temp in the oil. Once the prawns hit the oil, it should curl up nicely, especially since you have made a deep slit. With frying wooden chopsticks, move the prawns around to prevent overburning some parts. Fry the prawns for a minute and remove. Don't over fry them. It should look beautifully golden without any blackened spots.

150 gm butter
300 ml carnation milk
1 teaspoon of corn flour
small chilies (chili padi)
a bunch curry leaves
salt & sugar
white pepper
Deseed and dice the chilli padi. Mix one teaspoon of corn flours in some water. Mise in place the ingredients as making the sauce will be quick. Add 1 tablespoon of butter. Saute some curry leaves and the diced chili in it. Use very low flame and be gentle with the sauce. Add the rest of the butter and evaporated milk. The evaporated milk should be roughly twice the amount of butter.  Stir to mix. and a bit of corn flour water to thicken the sauce. Add some dashes of white pepper, salt and sugar to taste. Switch off fire. Stir in the fried prawns to coat, dish up and serve immediately. Bed it on lettuce. 

This is how the prawns look after they are fried. The prawns before it is coated with sauce. Note how thin the crust or batter is.