Mandarin Fried Prawns

Mandarin Fried Chicken has been a favorite of mine ever since I was a kid in my parents' restaurant.  Back then, I think I might have asked for that dish every night.  And once I was old enough to work the deep fryer, my chances for having my wish granted was in my own hands.  Over the years, I've experimented with different variations of the sauce, adjusting the ratios of the ingredients.  But the key is getting the frying down just right in order the achieve a crispy outcome.  Since I've blogged about the chicken before, I will let you go back to that post to read about the frying challenge.  But the main difference between the chicken and the prawns is that I fried the prawns only once,  unlike the par fry and re-fry of the chicken.  Also, I fry the prawns at 375f instead of 350f.  The reason is that the prawns cook much more quickly, so my fear in double frying is over cooking.  And using the higher temp will help achieve the crispy outer shell with the short fry time.  You will still need to fry the prawns in batches.


For the sauce:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp chopped scallions
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
ground white pepper to taste
1 tsp corn starch combined with 2 tsp water


In your wok, heat 1 tbsp oil and add in garlic and ginger until fragrant.  Then add in the soy, vinegar, sugar, pepper and water and bring to a boil.  Let simmer for about a minute.  Thicken sauce with the corn starch mixture and bring back just to boil.  Turn off heat, toss in scallions and prawns.  Turn a couple of times to just coat the shrimp.  Serve immediately.