Spicy Lemon Prawns

Note: What we call ‘prawn’ over here in South East Asia is known as ‘shrimp’ in the US.

These lemon prawns (酸辣檸檬蝦) contain all the balanced flavours of hot, sour, sweet & savoury in them. Usually, ginger is used for Chinese-style seafood, but lemon did a great job here too, giving the prawns a refreshing taste.

See Also:

• Tutorial: How to de-vein shell-on prawns (above)
• Recipe: Claypot glass noodles with prawns
• Recipe: Beer-steamed prawns

The lemon sauce is great to the last drop and I love to dip the peeled prawn in it, soak it all up with some cooked quinoa or bread, or drizzle over steamed rice.

If you are willing to go that extra mile for your family, serve the prawns peeled after cooking, so that they are easier to eat. I peeled them because it’s going into my lunch box for work.

I cooked this dish with shell-on prawns so that they retain their size and juices better after cooking. Check out this tutorial for de-veining prawns with their shells intact (see tutorial). This recipe will work with peeled prawns too.

These are the simple ingredients for this recipe. The chilli padi gives the dish some heat which is a nice complement to the sour and sweet lemon sauce.

Print

Chinese-style Lemon Prawns Recipe

Cooking the prawns with their shells on retain its size and juices after cooking. But you can also use peeled prawns if preferred.

Prawns cook very quickly – do not overcook as they may turn hard and chewy otherwise.

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 250 g or 10 medium tiger prawns (shrimps) trimmed of sharp edges and de-veined with shells on
• 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 3 chilli padi (bird’s eye chilli) de-seeded & sliced thinly; to taste
  
• zest of half lemon optional
• lemon slices to serve
• chopped spring onions to serve

(A) Spicy lemon sauce

• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp sugar

Directions:

1. Fry the aromatics. Heat oil in a wokpan. Add garlic and chilli. Briefly saute until aromatic, less than one minute.
2. Cook prawns. Add prepared prawns into the pan. Stir-fry briefly until almost cooked, then add lemon zest and sauce (A). Stir fry quickly to coat the prawns in the sauce, then cover with lid and simmer for about 1 minute.
3. Serve the prawns as it is (with shells on) or peeled. Garnish with chopped spring onions and lemon slices.

Ingredients Used: chilli • chilli padi • fish sauce • garlic • lemon • prawn • spring onion • sugar • tiger prawn • vinegar