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Steamed Prawns with Garlic
First posted in Jul 2010, updated in Feb 2017.
Steamed Prawns with Garlic is a very simple homely dish. Chinese restaurants always charge a premium for seafood dishes. The home-made version costs a small fraction of what the restaurants are charging.
See Also:
- Tutorial: How to Butterfly Prawns
- Beer-steamed Prawns Recipe
- Steamed Cockles with Garlic Recipe
- Delicious Prawn Recipes
Besides being cheaper, this is one dish you can cook at home easily and quickly, since prawns cook really fast (less than 5 minutes).
If you love garlic as much as I do, you will understand the amount of garlic I used in this dish. But if you find that the garlic is too much or spicy for your liking, you can reduce the amount according to taste. For best results, use fresh garlic and chop them yourself, instead of using instant bottled garlic. Also try to use bigger prawns for this dish because it will be easier to butterfly them and to stuff the garlic mixture into the cavity. See the step-by-step pictures below.
Step-by-Step Photos
Clean and butterfly the prawns by making a top slit across the back to the tail end of the prawn, removing the veins, and cutting a little deeper to make a cavity. Click here for detailed step-by-step pics.
Drizzle Chinese wine over the prawns cavity.
In this dish, the garlic is the star. So for best results, use freshly chopped garlic (I used an electric chopper as a short-cut).
Prepare the garlic mixture in a small bowl.
Fill the prawns cavity with the garlic mixture.
These are what the garlic-stuffed prawns look like, before steaming.
Steam over high heat until the prawns are cooked (just a few minutes; do not overcook). Garnish with coriander and serve.
Wiffy, the prawns look so fresh, yummy!
Wow! I can’t believe you made this at home. Totally restaurant quality. I can’t wait to try it!
hi there,
me again with my 2cents’ worth 2 share again…
i will normally fry the garlic & ginger with oil then add in the seasoning & fry til fragrant then dish & leave it cool…
once cool off then spread this “fried-garlic sauce” into the ‘butterfly prawns’ & steam for 4-5mins… may taste differently… …
just sharing…
Hi I like the sound of the fried garlic sauce, it’s a totally new taste from mine. I’ll try it one day, thanks for sharing :)
I love the steamed bamboo clams with garlic at Sin Hoi San and they do fry the garlic too which adds more fragrance. I was just looking through the comments to see if anyone fries the garlic too and am delighted to see this. I wonder if it would work if I just fry the garlic and top it on the prawn and the mixture separately?
Oh my this looks fantastic. Yes please!
Absolutely delicious and I am so drooling now .. and it’s getting to dinner time too! This is as good as what I’ll order in a restaurant .. even better cause it’s whopping packed with garlic. Yum!
Those big prawns look fantastic, and the garlic and ginger sound delicious with them!
I also prefer to cook prawns at home as it is more economical. Love your step-by-step photos! Your recipe is very inspiring as always! ;)
whats a good substitute for chinese wine? I can use any alcohold in my dishers :(
Hi I think you can omit the Chinese wine, no need to substitute :)
Prawns are my absolute fave. Simple prep – I like!
Oh! I love prawns, and this is one of my favorite way to have them…love with lots and lots of garlic…yummie and the pictures are awesome :-)