(Chinese recipes, prepare authentic Chinese food now!)
My Beijing Olympics Chinese food series continue today with everyone’s favorite shrimp/prawn dish in the United States–Honey Walnut Shrimp or Walnut Prawn (核桃虾).
This Honey Walnut Shrimp is loaded with all the right stuff: crunchy candy-glazed walnuts, big shrimp (which is referred to as “prawn” elsewhere), mayonnaise, condensed milk, and honey. With such mouthwatering ingredient lists, no wonder this is one of the most popular dishes in many Chinese restaurants.
Ordering Walnut Prawn at restaurants could be expensive but with my recipe, you can make Honey Walnut Shrimp anytime you want, for as little as $10.00!
1 pound of 31/40 count big shrimp/prawn – US$7.00
1 small pack of walnut halves – US$2.00
A little honey, a little condensed milk, a little mayonnaise – US$1.00
Total: US$10.00….
This is one succulent, juicy, crunchy, milky and sinfully good way to spend your $10. To check out my previous post about Cashew Chicken, please click here. For more Chinese recipes inspiration–a total of more than 40 recipes–check them out here. Some featured recipes are:
Cashew Chicken
Kung Pao Chicken
Fried Wonton
Ginger and Black Fungus Chicken
Restaurant-style Chinese Greens with Oyster Sauce
Chinese Jiaozi/Leeks and Pork Dumplings
Dragon Well Tea Shrimp (龙井虾仁)
Ma Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐)
Fried Vermicelli (Rice Sticks)
Rasa Malaysia’s Beijing Olympics Chinese Food Series will continue with Sweet and Sour Pork, Chow Mein, and a special request from you. If you have a Chinese recipe that you’re dying to learn, please leave me a comment and I will make it especially for you.
Now, go back and catch the games on TV!
Ingredients:
1 lb. 31/40 count shrimp/prawn
1/2 cup Walnut halves (make sure you get the walnut halves)
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon honey
1/2 tablespoon condensed milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 egg white
1/2 cup corn starch (for coating the prawn)
Oil for frying
For the Walnuts:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Method:
- Peel and deveined the shrimp/prawn. Pat dry with paper towels, add the egg white, mix well with the shrimp and set aside.
- Rinse the walnut halves with water, drain and set aside.
- Heat up the water until it boils and add in the sugar.
- Keep stirring until it turns thick and golden color and then add the walnut.
- Boil for 2 minutes, then drain and place walnuts on a cookie sheet/parchment paper to dry. (Regular paper will not work as the walnut will stick to it).
- Heat the oil in a wok over high heat.
- Coat the shrimp with a thick layer of corn flour and then and then fry in the hot oil until golden brown. Remove the shrimps from the wok and drain on paper towels.
- In a bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, honey, condensed milk and lemon juice.
- Add shrimp and toss with the mayonnaise sauce.
- Transfer to a serving plate and garnish the candied walnuts on top of the shrimp and serve immediately.
Cook’s Note:
To get more bang for your buck, you can buy frozen shrimp in a pre-packed box. The frozen shrimp usually comes in a frozen block. During sales, a box of 31/40 count shrimp can be as low as US$15/box.
Related Posts:
Get new recipes via RSS and reader or subscribe via email
{ 49 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks good bee! This is the first time I’ve ever seen condensed milk incorporated into a savory recipe! :)
Reply
Wow, I’ve never had this dish before, but I’m certainly going to give it a go. :)
I do have a couple of questions about a couple of your recipes that I’d dearly love to have your feedback on. I made both your pineapple tarts and the portuguese egg tarts today, because they look so damn amazing and delicious in your photos. *_* I’m a bit of a cooking newbie, so I apologise if these sound really obvious.
I found it really difficult to shape the pineapple egg tarts; the dough was REALLY crumbly! Is that caused by adding too much flour at a time? I tried to go slow but near the end it just went all over like crumbs of dough rather than a… dough. I could barely get them to hold together around the filling, so they were ugly as sin haha. But DELICIOUS.
For the portuguese egg tarts, I couldn’t find any kind of crust mix, so bought a pack of pre-rolled, frozen savoury short pastry. I thawed them to room temperature (they were even drying and hardening a little bit, oops), and arranged the pastry into a 12-muffin tray; not really deep, and about the same size as you’d expect one of these tarts to be. The custard turned dark brown very quickly, but the pastry is… well I THINK it’s cooked enough to eat but it’s still soft and thin where it was in contact with the custard, so around the lower sides and on the bottom. Is this because I used a frozen pastry? :( The custard did cook quite quickly but there wasn’t a lot of it; it seemed like I should have doubled the recipe for the filling, though that sounds kind of weird since yours look perfectly fine.
Sorry for going on and on! I’d really appreciate any ideas on where I went wrong with your recipes, because I’d definitely try them again.
Reply
ooo. Sweet and savory- walnuts and prawns, a match made in heaven!
Reply
Oh my goodness! This is very close to one of my favorite dishes from Chinese restaurants, Hot Prawn Salad…which is basically prawns/shimps prepared like this (with mayo, condensed milk, etc) and fruit cocktail instead of the walnuts. This is even better because I don’t really eat the fruit cocktail part and I LOVE walnuts! Oh MY! THANK YOU!
Reply
ooo… it looks yummy. that bowl is definitely not enough for me.
I have never used condensed milk in my food. :-)
If I substitute condensed milk with XO sauce, would it work? Hehe… I got XO sauce in my fridge, but no condensed milk at home.
Reply
I can’t wait to try this! We really like honey walnut shrimp.
Reply
I’ve seen this on American Chinese restaurant menus, but never thought that something with mayonnaise would be authentically Chinese. It’s those candied walnuts that are irresistible!
Reply
this has got to be the 1st time iv seen a prawn recipe using condensed milk!
btw, i like the banner. looks better than the one i did. hehe.
Reply
I can’t believe the ingredients you put in the recipe, very innovative and delicious sounding! I give you a gold medal for this recipe adaptation. Thanks again Bee!
Reply
And I here I thought it was only *my* favorite Chinese dish!! :-) I absolutely love honey walnut prawns – always my go-to order in Chinese restaurants. I’ve tried making it a few times at home – I get the shrimp right, but I burn the walnuts every time. Any tips to ensure perfectly candied walnuts? Stunning photo!
Reply
I’d probably pick out all the walnuts and eat them first!
Reply
All – thanks for your comments.
Lady Phoenix – for the pineapple tarts, it depends on the brand of the butter you use because the moisture level of each butter is different, look for one with the highest moisture level. Sorry but I don’t have a better answer. Sorry but no idea about the short pastry.
Lydia – I think this is more like an American-Chinese food, but I am seeing more mayonnaise on Chinese food now in Asia.
Keropok – no, you can’t substitute with XO sauce because it’s different, but you can do without the condensed milk. Just add more honey.
PaniniKathy – you just have to keep your eyes on the walnut and make sure you boil them in the candy sauce just a wee bit, and then transfer and dry.
Reply
Thanks, great recipe. Now we have something to do with all the walnuts from our trees!
Reply
Thanks for the recipe.. :) i will definitely try it out .. as soon as i recover from my surgery.. :) i do miss my shrimps alot.
Reply
Testing!
Reply
THANK YOU SO MUCH for posting this recipe! I made this recently but wasn’t so successful as we made it via trial and error ha. You just made my day -thanks once again!
Ce’nedra
P.S. As for the request, I’m sure others would have asked for something else, but if you can, I would love it if you could offer a recipe for Ngo Hiang (Teochew prawn rolls).
Anyhow, keep up the good work -you’ve got amazing recipes that are really inspring to me.
Reply
we both have shrimp love!
did water trick work for you?
Reply
ohhhh yum!!! i have to try this recipe one night!
Reply
Oh wow! This looks terrific! I’ve never seen anything like it, but you can bet I’ll be giving this a try. I bet my husband would love this!
Reply
Help the honeybees!
Prevent the loss of the world food supply. Learn how you can help cure Colony Collapse Disorder.
What is the bee tree?
thebeetree(dot)org
Reply
:)~ I’ve never ate this dish in restaurants b4 … and I love the chinese name, 核桃虾. Me (and my hamsters- they love walnuts) loves this dish! :D
Reply
I love this dish. There are a few restaurants in Chicago that do it really well. It’s usually the first thing I think of ordering when I’m at those places
Reply
this is an interesting dish! i dont think i’ve had it before at any of the chinese restaurants here in penang! lol. interesting to note the chinese food that is popular in america! :)
this sounds like an awesome recipe. ~files it away under recipes to try~
Reply
Thanks for the tip about the moisture in butter! I actually just added a wee bit of water to the dough, and it was perfect!! It made the most amazing, delicately light tarts. :) Thanks again for posting the recipe.
Reply
This is the first that I have ever heard of this dish but it looks and sounds good. I will have to try it.
Reply
OMG!! Looks so delicious!! I’ll definitely try this recipe! I also found a lot useful recipe here Chinese Food
Reply
this looks delicious…thanks for all the chinese food ideas…I really should start cooking food that I was used to growing up!
Reply
Thoroughly enjoying the series.
Reply
Hi RM
Love your blog and visit it often. The prawns look divine. Must try soon.
Reply
Bee, I am getting hungry now….
Reply
This looks lovely bee, just the thing to eat while watching the olympics ..i hope you’re following it. I manage to watch some everyday !
Reply
This is something that I haven’t tasted. The combination looks really good!
Reply
Your honey walnut shrimp recipe sounds easy enough. i know my family is going to love me more when i serve this easy to make honey walnut shrimp.
Reply
oh i think i had this once in a chinese restaurant in high school. never knew they used condensed milk in it. looks great!
Reply
This honey walnut shrimp looks so good! I will try to make it using your honey walnut shrimp recipe.
Reply
Hi,
The website said to leave a comment with requests:
Can you please come up with the recipe for Crispy Sesame Chicken at Charlie Chiang’s (Centreville, VA)?
Thanks so much!
Julie
Burke, VA
Reply
I hope this is a close match to Chef Chu’s Prawns with Candied Pecans. I’ve been trying to find that recipe for years! I can’t wait to make this!
Julie
Reply
Look nice, sweet….
i think i have to try it
Reply
I’ve tryed different receipes and this is by far the best one that i’ve tried! Thank you so much for posting one of the best chinese dishes!!!
Reply
Thank you for this awesome recipe! It’s a nice subtle flavor compared to other variations I’ve had at numerous restaurants.
If you are big on walnuts, I would double the amount for walnuts, sugar, and water – which worked out perfectly for me!
If you are big on honey, I would add 1 Tbsp Honey to the walnut sugar water mixture, and 1 Tbsp Honey (instead of just a 1/2) to the mayonnaise. I also added 2 Tbsp water since my husband is not big on mayonnaise to thin it out.
Thanks again! And can’t wait to try out more of your recipes :)
Reply
I wanted to ask if you need to sweetened condensed milk or non sweetened? this is the part I am not so sure…
Reply
Matthew – it’s sweetened condensed milk.
Reply
thanks so much for the fast reply, have to look around in Germany, because they don’t take sweetened condensed milk… but hey, keep it up, love your site, I managed to put on a Nasi Lemak Party here in Berlin because of your recipe… :-)
Reply
Just discovered this site: the recipes look and sound delicious.
Just one comment (not necesarily related to this recipe): I note that a very large number of readers who post comments haven’t actually *tried* the recipes they are posting about. Why is that? I read and use a lot of the recipes at Epicurious.com that sound great, but get bad reviews when people have actually tried them. Just curious how many of the posters here try the recipes, and why they don’t post back with the results more frequently.
Chris
Reply
just a note to anyone thinking of using pre-cooked shrimp, don’t. i had a pack in the freezer and decided to use those. the quality is definitely not comparable to using fresh shrimp.
Reply
I just wanted to tell you that this recipe worked perfectly. I have had several recipes that did not come out right, So I wanted to make it a point to come ot your site and commment oh how great it is. Thanks so much.
Reply
Rasa Malaysia replied:
Inarosie – thank you so much for your compliments. I hope you try and enjoy the rest of my recipes also.
Reply
Rasa Malaysia replied:
Inarosie – thanks so much for your sweet note. I am glad it works. You should try my other recipes to pair with the honey walnut shrimp. :)
Reply
Just made this last night…….it came out perfect!!! And JUST LIKE from the restaurants in Chinatown……..Thanks for the awesome recipe!!! One change….i used waterchestnut powder instead of corn starch……
Reply
Rasa Malaysia replied:
Awesome, I am glad you liked it. As water chestnut powder is supposed to make the shrimp “crunchy.” Gotta try that. :)
Reply
I made this for my husband last night. It was delicious! I think I did the coating and frying of the shrimp a little bit wrong, as it did not have the texture I would expect, and will personally skip this step next time. Still, very, very delicious.
Reply
Awesome recipe!!!
Reply
Rasa Malaysia replied:
Thank you!
Reply