Crispy Oat Prawns

I have been quite busy the past few weeks that there has been not much activity in my kitchen but hopefully I will start firing up that wok from this week onwards. Last night, I kicked off my kitchen escapades as we indulged in some crispy oat prawns. The prawns were from my earlier Kuala Selangor trip.

I adapted a recipe from the New Chinese Cuisine by Tung Lok Restaurants which was originally for mantis prawns. Although I had some mantis prawns, they were shelled already so I thought prawns would be more appropriate. Unfortunately I did not have any bird eye's chilli but I made do by adding lots of curry leaves. This dish reminds me the butter prawns that you get at restaurants. It is slightly healthier (this is purely from a comparison point of view as it is quite unhealthy with all that deep frying and butter) since it omits the evaporated milk and egg yolks which is used for butter prawns. Splashie Boy loves this dish so it looks to be one of our favourites to be indulged in once in a while.

Crispy Oat Prawns

300g prawns/ mantis prawns
480 ml corn oil
5 cloves shallots, chopped
100g butter
1 bird eye's chilli, chopped
5 curry leaves
25 g oats

Trim the prawns with a kitchen scissors. Split the prawns in half from the back to devein. Pat dry the prawns and deep fry them in hot oil until they are golden brown. Remove and place on absorbent paper to remove excess oil.

Stir fry the chopped shallots until they are fragrant and golden brown. Add butter, the bird eye's chilli, curry leaves and oats and continue to fry till the oats turn crispy and golden brown as well. Add cooked prawns and mix well. Arrange prawns on plate and pour the oats over to serve. This portion serves two.