Stir-fried prawns with tangerine and chive head

This Cantonese staple is full of auspicious significance. The dish is also known as Hee Har Tai Siew (which means laughing prawns), and tangerine (ju) sounds like ji which means “lucky”.

Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 20 minutes

tangerine peel mix

45g dried tangerine peel, ground to powder
2 tsp five-spice powder
1 tbsp plum powder
10g sea salt
20g fine sugar
pinch pepper

8 large tiger prawns, cleaned, deveined and lightly flattened (cut a line on the back)
3 tbsp rice wine or Sherry
3 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp corn flour
3-4 cups cooking oil

sauce
2 tbsp cooking oil
3 tbsp garlic, chopped
2 tbsp old ginger, minced
3 tbsp rice wine (or Sherry)
3 tbsp light soya sauce
4 tsp sugar
4 sprigs spring onion
1 tbsp coriander root, chopped
¼ cup tangerine juice
¼ cup chicken stock
1 tbsp corn starch

garnish
60g chive head, blanched

• Combine the ingredients in tangerine peel mix. Set aside.
• Marinate prawns with rice wine and soya sauce for 30 minutes at room temperature. Lightly dust with corn flour before frying.
• Heat up oil in a pot, and lightly fry the marinated prawns to a light golden brown. Pat dry and set aside.
• Heat up 2 tbsp of oil in a wok and fry the garlic and ginger till fragrant. Add in rice wine.
• Add remaining ingredients for the sauce to the wok, bring to a boil and simmer for one minute. Lightly thicken with corn starch if needed.
• Drizzle sauce over the fried prawns and garnish with tangerine peel mix and garnishes.

Excerpt from the January issue of epicure.

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