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A simple yet incredibly tasty recipe with fresh water prawn cooked in a blend of soy sauce, cooking wine, a touch of sugar, and chopped scallions.
Giant Fresh Water Prawn
This pan-fried freshwater prawn recipe is probably one of the easiest but remarkably delicious recipes for prawn—huge, giant-sized fresh prawns pan fried with soy sauce, cooking wine, a bit of sugar, and chopped scallions.
In Chinese, this dish is called 干烧虾, a popular seafood delicacy, especially in coastal regions abundant with fresh shrimp. It’s a celebrated dish, and freshwater prawns are a prime choice due to their texture and the rich, creamy fat found in their heads.
I have a strong affinity for freshwater prawns; their taste is arguably second only to that of Santa Barbara live spot prawns, in my opinion.
What Is Freshwater Prawn
Freshwater prawns, are closely related to the shrimp family, but a completely different specie. They are primarily found in freshwater habitats such as rivers, lakes, and ponds, as opposed to saltwater or marine habitats. They are also farmed in freshwater environs. The best seafood doesn’t always have to come from the sea.
Their key characteristics include:
- Appearance: They have a big head, and hence called big head prawn in Cantonese and Chinese (大头虾). They are prized for the rich and creamy fats in their head, and its blue-wish color shell with two long claws. At a glance, they resemble a mini lobster cum crawfish.
- Habitat: Found in freshwater environments like rivers, lakes, and rice paddies.
- Culinary Use: Their sweet, delicate flavor and firm flesh and texture are perfect for Chinese recipes and Thai recipes. In fact, the best Tom Yum is made with freshwater prawn.
Recipe Ingredients
- Freshwater prawn – if you are in the United States, you can purchase them frozen (in a paper box) at Asian supermarkets. If you are in Asia, you may get live and giant fresh water prawns from live seafood stores.
- Garlic – chop garlic coarsely for a chunkier texture.
- Soy Sauce
- Shaoxing wine – substitute with Chinese rice wine, cooking sake, or dry sherry. If you cannot consume alcohol, skip it altogether.
- Sugar
- Chopped scallions
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Cook Fresh Water Prawns
Step 1: Using a sharp knife, make a shallow incision along the back of the prawn. Remove the dark vein, then rinse with water and pat dry with paper towels.
Step 2: Add oil to a wok or pan. Once the oil is heated, add the garlic and stir-fry until aromatic and light brown in color.
Step 3: Add in the fresh water prawns, soy sauce, wine, sugar and do a few quick stirs.
Step 4: Use the wok turner to press down on each prawn, pan-frying both sides until they are fully cooked.
Step 5: Add the chopped scallions and stir to combine with the prawns. Serve hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course you can! Just use a bigger-sized prawn or tiger prawn if freshwater prawns are not available.
Fully cooked prawns will turn opaque, with the shells turn to orange or reddish-orange.
This freshwater prawn recipe is only 118 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Recipe
For a complete and balanced meal, pair this prawn dish with the following recipes:
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Pan Fried Fresh Water Prawn
Ingredients
- 6 fresh water prawn, jumbo prawn or big tiger prawn
- 1 ½ tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped scallions
Instructions
- Using a sharp knife, make a shallow incision along the back of the prawn. Remove the dark vein, then rinse with water and pat dry with paper towels
- Add oil to a wok or pan. Once the oil is heated, add the garlic and stir-fry until aromatic and lightly browned.
- Add the fresh water prawns, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and sugar. Stir well to combine.
- Use a wok turner to press down on each prawn, pan-frying both sides until they are fully cooked.
- Add the chopped scallions and stir to combine with the prawns. Serve hot with steamed rice.
Notes
- Freshwater prawn – if you are in the United States, you can purchase them frozen (in a paper box) at Asian supermarkets. If you are in Asia, you may get live and giant fresh water prawns from live seafood stores.
- Shaoxing wine – substitute with Chinese rice wine, cooking sake, or dry sherry. If you cannot consume alcohol, skip it altogether.
- The wok will get really dry and the prawns might appear burned but it’s fine as it will add that “charred” flavor to the prawns.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
SIX prawns serves 4 people?
Not everyone is going to have 2.
Hi, Bee. I will surely make this dish at home using freshwater prawns. Actually, I like your idea of using freshwater prawns for this dish. I am sure my family will love this dish. I will also share this wonderful blog with my friends for their reference. I really appreciate the efforts you have put in to write this wonderful article. I also like the images that you have used in this article. Thank you.
Are these shell on prawns?
Yes.
It is interesting. But how about cleaning the prawns,removing the intestines, microbiological safety etc. Do we remove the shell while eating.