Butter Prawn

4.73 from 11 votes
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Butter Prawn is a Malaysian recipe that is buttery, salty, sweet, spicy, and garlicky. The main ingredients are prawn, butter, grated coconut and curry leaves.

Butter prawn.
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Malaysian Butter Prawn

Butter Prawn is a delicious Malaysian recipe that you can commonly find in local restaurants.

It combines the best of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and western ingredients; this is a knockout dish in terms of taste, smell, and presentation.

Every bite of the prawn reveals layer upon layer of complex flavors. It’s buttery, salty, sweet, spicy, and garlicky working off one another seamlessly and perfectly.

This recipe is truly Malaysian and the taste is simply scrumptious and mouthwatering!

Easy homemade butter prawn recipe.

Recipe Ingredients

Curry leaf.

Other than prawn, the key ingredient of this dish is curry leaf.

Highly aromatic in nature, curry leaf is widely used in southern Indian cuisine and Malaysian recipes.

The exotic scent of these dark green leaves saturates coconut milk based curries with rich fragrance and perks up seafood dishes such as Butter Prawn and Black Pepper Crab.

Another key ingredients is grated coconut, which adds amazing taste to the recipe.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.


Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories per serving?

This recipe is only 258 calories per serving.

Authentic butter prawn with green curry leaves.

What To Serve With Butter Prawn

Butter prawn, ready to serve.

For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

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4.73 from 11 votes

Butter Prawn

Butter Prawn is a Malaysian recipe that is buttery, salty, sweet, spicy, and garlicky. The main ingredients are prawn, butter, grated coconut and curry leaves.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 people
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Ingredients  

  • 1 lb (500g) prawn, for example: tiger prawn
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 3 sprigs curry leaves, use only the leaves
  • 1-2 small bird’s eye chilies, pounded, optional
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine, rice wine preferred
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3 dashes ground black pepper
  • 6 tablespoons grated coconut, dry fried until golden brown

Instructions 

  • Leave the prawn heads and shells on, but chop off the eyes. Cut the legs with scissors. Slit down the back to remove the veins, then pat dry.
  • Heat a skillet with oil and pan-fry the prawns until the shells turn white but are not completely cooked. Drain and set aside.
  • Melt the butter, then add the garlic, curry leaves, and bird's eye chilies (if using). Stir-fry for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add the prawns, oyster sauce, wine, sugar, black pepper, and grated coconut. Cook over high heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.
  • Dish out and serve immediately.

Notes

Recipe adapted from "The Food of Malaysia: Authentic Recipes from the Crossroads of Asia."

Nutrition

Serving: 4people, Calories: 253kcal, Carbohydrates: 6g, Protein: 16g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 165mg, Sodium: 769mg, Potassium: 196mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 508IU, Vitamin C: 18mg, Calcium: 78mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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About Rasa Malaysia

Bee is a recipe developer and best-selling cookbook author, sharing easy, quick, and delicious Asian and American recipes since 2006. With a strong following of almost 2 million fans online, her expertise has been featured in major publications, TV and radio programs, and live cooking demos throughout the United States and Asia.

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30 Comments

  1. Azlin says:

    Can i replace grated coconut with nestum?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Yes you can!

  2. Amy says:

    Where to find curry leaves in OC area?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Indian stores.

  3. Evelyn says:

    This looks delicious. Thank you

  4. Kauser says:

    The easiest and tastiest prawn recipe I have ever done. Thanks very much.

  5. foodlvr says:

    Looks so yummy. Send me some, please

  6. Rasa Malaysia says:

    Yes, Keropok Man, send them over please. :)

  7. Keropok Man says:

    hmmm mum’s place had curry leaves, serai, all the different different dauns in her garden.

    then when we are not staying at home, even pandan leaves have to go and buy. sigh. took things for granted. but good thing, all these are available at the wet market or supermarkets. *big grin*

    you really want nestum posted over? haha…