Salt and Pepper King Prawns

Serves: 2
Approx cost: €2.50
Approx calories (per serving): 250
Approx preparation and cooking time: 20 mins

If you’ve ever had these in a Chinese restaurant, and they’ve been done well, you’ll know that Salt and Pepper King Prawns are awesome! Slightly crispy and slightly oily on the outside, with wonderful, but so simple flavours of salt and pepper infused into the “crust” – add in a bit of finely chopped chilli and you’ve got an awesome dish to eat on the side of something else of your choice – noodles, rice, vegetables and so forth. Give it a try and see what you think – you won’t be disappointed!

Ingredients

Ingredients you'll need for this dish

– ~150g Fresh, cooked, peeled King or Tiger Prawns – leaving the tail (or rather “tail’s tail”) on enables you to hold it more easily
– ~3-4 tbsps Potato Starch
– ~3 tbsps Sunflower or Peanut Oil
– ~2 tsp Salt or Crushed Salt Flakes
– ~2 tsps freshly ground Black Pepper
– Finely chopped sweet chilli (or some finely chopped pepper and ~1 tsp Chilli Powder)

Instructions

1. Start off by placing the Potato Starch into the centre of a large plate. The Prawns should already be damp, but on the off-chance that they’re completely dry then rinse them under water for a few seconds before shaking the excess water off. Place each prawn into the potato starch and, holding on to their tail, turn them around until they’re coated with the starch.
   
   
   
   




2. Place the oil into a large frying pan and heat on the stove. While the oil is heating (keep an eye on it!) place the salt, pepper and chilli into a large bowl and stir a little with a spoon to ensure even distribution of the salt and pepper. When the oil is very hot, place the shrimps carefully into the oil, one by one. Fry for a minute or so before turning over and repeating. They should already be looking golden brown, but if they’re still a bit pale, turn again and fry for 30 seconds or so more on each side. When golden, place the prawns into the bowl with the salt and pepper and toss the bowl a few times to shake the salt and pepper over them. Drain off the excess oil from the frying pan and then return the prawns to the frying pan and fry for another 45 seconds or so, just to seal in the salt and pepper into the crust.
   
   
   
   




3. Plate up and serve with some accompaniments of your choice! Enjoy!

Nom nom