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Monday, June 7, 2010

Prawn Fritter With Long Beans - 豆角虾饼


Prawn Patty 7

Prawn Patty 8

Prawn Patty 4
A few years ago when I was staying in Guangzhou,China I would hop over to Hong Kong for the weekend and it was during those days that I chanced upon a cooking program in Hong Kong hosted by the very direct, sacarstic and outspoken So Sze Wong (苏施黄). So Sze Wong who is a famous radio DJ is infamous for being picky about food. I was told by my Hong Kong distributor that growing up in a well-off family, she has basically acquired a fussy palate and truly knows how to eat well. (There is a difference between one who likes to eat and one who knows how to eat, 喜欢吃vs懂得吃)

The first series of her cooking program was known as "So" Real Time Cooking (一粒钟真人苏). In the show, So cooks unpretentious dishes that most of us would have eaten at home. Unlike typical cooking programs where ingredients were already pre-prepared, she does everything real time. With the 60mins timer ticking away, we will get to see her peel prawns, wash vegetables, pluck vegetables - exactly what you would expect to see if you were to sit in your mother's kitchen and watch her prepare dinner... It may sound a little boring but So, being the radio DJ she is would chat away while she busys herself with the food. The objective is to have 3 dishes sitting on the table at the end of the hour. I like the program because she actually imparts alot of tricks and food preparation knowledge that modern working ladies like us would never be able to pick up from cookbooks. In her program, you won't find recipes as she does not believe in measuring cups and spoons for home cooking but she is particular about the ingredients she works with. She uses only fresh sea prawns, fresh chicken (she would even reject frozen chicken wings) and to her, the supermarket is a place you go only for toilet paper and washing detergent.....

Prawn Patty 1


At the market, I spotted some fresh sea prawns and decided to prepare the prawn fritter dish I remember from her show. She referred to the prawns as Sea Prawns (海中虾) - I am not certain if this refers to fresh sea water prawns or to a particular species of prawns but apparently, this is the only type of prawns one should use in order to get a crunchy (爽口) texture in the prawn fritter. Other types of prawns tend to have a more mushy texture. For the less fussy, I guess any type of prawns would be fine. Possibly there are ways to treat the cheaper prawns to get a crunchy texture (e.g. treating the prawns with a little alkaline solution) but when good quality ingredients are used, cooking can become a little more fool proof... :)  The fritters are definitely a keeper. The flavourful bouncy crunch from the prawn meat went well with the crisp crunch of the long bean.
It may be too much to spend $5 for the 6 little prawn fritters (not including utilities..haha) but while I can, I would like to eat well within my means... and may all of you get to eat well too...

Prawn Patty (100)
Recipe :
Fresh Sea Prawns     300g
Long beans               6 pieces
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
Sesame Oil
Oil for frying.

Method:
1. Shell and devein prawns.
2. Use the back of a cleaver, slap down on the prawns to flatten and chop to mince.
3. Place minced prawns in a large deep bowl. Add salt, sugar, pepper and sesame oil to season. Stir well with chopsticks until a little pasty. Set aside for 20mins to marinate.
4. Dice the long beans.
5. Scoop marinated prawns with palm of hand and throw it vigorously back into the bowl. 'Slam' the minced prawns a few times until the minced prawns become pasty and gluey.
6. Mix diced long beans with minced prawns. Shape into small patties.
7. Fry patties until golden brown. If time allows, fry the patties over strong fire again just before serving.

19 comments:

Kitchen Corner said...

Hi,
Your prawn fritters look so nice! Just like dining in a five stars restaurant!

Sook said...

WOW! These look delicious! I love shrimp. :)

Zurin said...

These do look delicious...juicy and fresh and moist and crunchy...OMYum

I too always go for sea prawns.....those that are caught from teh sea and not farmed. the farmed prawns are greyish in colour n god knows what they are fed.

haha...only for detergent n toilet paper..thats teh funniest thing Ive heard today. n perhpas it is very true too.

maameemoomoo said...

Bookmarking this!!

I always hit the wall when it comes to cooking prawns :P

WendyinKK said...

$5 or 6 is nothing compared to those "branded cup and saucer" that you got. Hahaha!! Why so suddenly so kiamsap oredi.

I won't mind paying RM20-30 to fix a simple dish for 2pax if I know I'm using good ingredients.
Sometimes my dinner for 2 cost me almost RM50 per meal, that's if I'm steaming cod or any other fish, soup, and some other imported vege. I can go really crazy at times just for a regular dinner.

Gosh, blueberries here can cost RM10-15 a punnet and to make something with those blue stuff, 2 punnets are sometimes needed.. and they definately cost a lot lot more than prawns.

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Hahaha...Wendy, spoken like a true mother and teacher! Priorities sometimes become hazy when emotions come into play. Recent years, blueberries have become cheaper here. We can sometimes get it for less than $3/punnet here. Raspberries, though are very expensive...

pigpigscorner said...

yum...they look so juicy! I would love some with some chili sauce please!

ann low said...

I can't wait to try those because prawn is my favorite. Looks really very yummy!

Little Inbox said...

I like this type of patties, but a bit lazy to fry it, hehe...

pierre said...

hi shirley
your photos are splendid !! thanks Pierre

Clare @ Mrs Multitasker said...

They look gorgeous Shirley =) Wow. And that cooking program sounds awesome! Three dishes in an hour - that sounds like something we all need to know how to do!

Can someone pls convince my hubby that prawns don't taste gross?

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I really like the idea of making these at home because sometimes at restaurants they put other things into it as prawns are expensive. These look fantastic! :D

tigerfish said...

Must be so delicious! and sounds like a simple recipe. Thanks.

MsMoon said...

These fritters looked like they are made by a five-star restaurant chef but are actually so easy to make. I'll make them if I have guests over, they will be impressed.. Haha...

Pei-Lin said...

I'm not a picky eater ... Of course, I don't mind the bounce from my shrimp, too! Haha! So greedy! You're making me drool with your fritters before bedtime ...

Amelia PS said...

ohhhh now I HAVE to make these, they sound sweet and salty, just wonderful little bites :)

Carolyn Jung said...

These look fabulous. All I need is a little dish of soy sauce to dunk them into, and I'd be one happy camper.

Beau Lotus 涟 said...

Mmm...I like this! Very much.

I want to eat this sea prawns or no sea prawns.

苹果妈妈 said...

wow!looks delicious! will try it out when free .
Thanks for sharing :)

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