Easy Sweet & Sour Tiger Prawns
The perfect balance of sweet, sour and spicy, this three-flavoured Sweet & Sour Tiger Prawns dish is delicious, amazing and super easy to do. Deep fry the prawns, make the sauce and mix it all in. So good for a party dish, and an ordinary weekday dish for the family.
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.
Notes
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!
Nutrition
Calories: 399kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 26gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 9gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 180mgSodium: 1078mgPotassium: 579mgFiber: 2gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 1IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 23mgIron: 1mg
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