Easy Sweet & Sour Tiger Prawns
Sweet & Sour Prawns, which is also known as Three Flavoured Prawns, is a bright red, dish that has the perfect balance of sweetness from the vegetables, sourness from the tamarind juice and a mild spiciness from chilli sauce or chilli paste.
Frequently featured as a prawn dish during special occasions, the preparation and cooking of sweet & sour prawns is actually quite simple and quick. This recipe uses capsicum, yellow onions and tomatoes for vegetables – but other ingredients, such as cucumber and pineapple can be used too. More below!
Serves 5 adults.
What are Sweet & Sour Tiger Prawns?
Sweet & Sour Prawns is a Chinese dish that is a variation of the Sweet and Sour Pork that is a common, everyday dish. Despite being sweet & sour, there is a slight spiciness that tickles the tastebuds. The brilliant red colour comes from the guajillo chillies – a sweet chilli that is very mild in spice. Red chillies give that ticklish spice, so reduce the amount if you prefer a milder Sweet and Sour sauce.
The prawns themselves are deep-fried until just cooked; and coated with flour to both absorb excess moisture and to provide additional texture for the thick sauce to cling to. The result is, firm and juicy prawns coated with a rich, velvet-like sauce.
I used the traffic light of capsicums – red, yellow and green, to impart a sweet and earthy taste to the vegetables. Tomatoes were added for a light sourness, while yellow onions were added for sweetness. It is possible to use zucchini, or pineapple too; just ensure that leftovers will not be kept for more than a day as pineapples tend to release their juices, spoiling the dish by the next day.
Ingredients
- Tiger prawns
- Salt, to taste
- Sugar
- Tomato sauce
- Cooking oil, unscented
- Red chilli (soak in hot water for 20 minutes if using dried chillies)
- Guajillo chilli
- Tapioca flour, (or cornstarch. Use 1/3 of the tapioca flour amount)
- Water
- Crispy flour, or tempura flour
- Garlic
- Tamarind juice
Utensils
Tips
- I used tiger prawns, but any type of prawns can be used.
- I held down each prawn so they curl less as they were deep-fried.
- Be careful while frying the chilli paste, as it releases strong fumes while cooking.
- Adding sugar mellows down the spiciness and sourness of the sweet-sour sauce.
- Capsicum and yellow onions add to the crunchy texture and give a natural sweetness to the dish.
- Ensure to watch the video to see exactly how I made it!
Storage Instructions
Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for about a day or two, in an airtight container. However, do note that since the prawns were deep-fried, reheating this sweet and sour prawns dish may cause them to become drier and slightly tougher.
If using pineapples or zucchini, it is not recommended to keep any leftovers as they tend to release water over time. This can cause the dish to spoil rapidly.
I do not recommend freezing this dish as the texture of the prawns and vegetables tends to change after being frozen.
Similar Recipes
- Sambal Asparagus with Prawns Recipe
- Smooth, Silky Steamed Eggs
- Braised Scallops with Broccoli and Shiitake Mushrooms
- Sweet Sour Spicy Fried Fish
Easy Sweet & Sour Tiger Prawns
Equipment
- Kitchen Shears
- Hand Blender
- Wok
- Wooden Cooking Chopsticks
- Strainer
- Non-Stick Frying Pan
- Turner
Ingredients
- 400 ml cooking oil, unscented, for deep-frying
Marinate
- 600 g tiger prawns, deveined, whiskers, horn, swimmers and legs removed
- 1 tsp salt
- 50 g crispy flour
Chilli Paste
- 40 g red chilli
- 10 g guajillo chilli, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes
Flour Slurry
- 1/2 tbsp tapioca flour
- 15 ml water
Sweet-Sour Sauce
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 25 g garlic, peeled and chopped
- 100 ml tamarind juice, concentrated
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp tomato sauce
- 75 g yellow onions, sliced
- 45 g green capsicum, sliced
- 50 g yellow capsicum, sliced
- 50 g red capsicum, sliced
- 1/2 tbsp sugar, optional
- 100 g tomato, cut into wedges
- 12 g spring onions
Instructions
- Soak the dried guajillo chilli in hot water for about 20 minutes.
- Prepare the tiger prawns. Devein the prawns with a toothpick. Cut off the horn, swimmers, legs and whiskers.
- Marinate the prawns with 1 tsp of salt, sprinkling half of it on one side. Rub them to spread the salt evenly. Repeat for the other side. Set it aside.
- Make the chilli paste for the sauce. Cut both chillies into smaller pieces over the blender. Blend until they turn into a fine paste. Set it aside.
- Mix tapioca flour and 15ml of water in a small mixing bowl until well combined. Set it aside.
- Heat 400ml of cooking oil in a wok over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes, or until the dipped tips of cooking wooden chopsticks release tiny bubbles.
- Coat the marinated prawns generously with crispy flour, on both sides. Make sure to cover the head as well.
- Deep fry the prawns, 2 at a time, for 2 minutes, flipping them when the colour changes. Remove the prawns with a strainer and let them rest on a cooling rack. Repeat with all the prawns until completed. Switch off the heat.
- Add 2 tbsp of cooking oil to a non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Fry minced garlic for about 2 minutes, or until crispy. Remove them from the pan and set them aside.
- Fry the blended chilli paste for about 2 minutes, or until slightly dried.
- Add tamarind juice, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 tbsp of sugar and tomato sauce. Mix until well combined, and continue to cook until it comes to a rolling boil. If it is too thick, add 50ml of water.
- Mix in the yellow onions, red capsicum, yellow capsicums and green capsicum, until well-coated with the sauce. Braise for 1.5 minutes for a cooked and crunchy texture. Allow to cook for 3 minutes for a soft texture.
- Taste and adjust. I added 1/2 tbsp of sugar to mellow out the spiciness and sourness. Stir to mix.
- Add and mix in the tomato wedges, cooking them slightly.
- Add the flour slurry and stir until well combined. Switch off the heat.
- Add the fried prawns, gently stirring them to coat them with the sauce. Add spring onions and fried garlic. Mix them until well combined.
- Dish it out onto a serving plate. Sprinkle some chopped spring onions and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- I used tiger prawns, but any type of prawns can be used.
- I held down each prawn so they curl less as they were deep-fried.
- Be careful while frying the chilli paste, as it releases strong fumes while cooking.
- Adding sugar mellows down the spiciness and sourness of the sweet-sour sauce.
- Capsicum and yellow onions add to the crunchy texture and give a natural sweetness to the dish.
- Ensure to watch the video to see exactly how I made it!