Ebi chili
Prawns velveted in egg white and starch, in a sauce built on ketchup as much as chilli bean.
Shellfish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains chicken stock, shellfish.
Ingredients
the prawns
- 600 g large prawns, peeled
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon potato starch
- 1 tablespoon sake
- 0.5 teaspoon salt
the sauce
- 1 tablespoon doubanjiang
- 4 tablespoons tomato ketchup
- 200 ml chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon sake
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 20 g ginger, chopped
- 4 spring onions, chopped
- 1 tablespoon potato starch, slaked
- 3 tablespoons oil
Method
- VELVETED IN EGG WHITE AND STARCH, 20 minutes before cooking. The coating sets in the oil and keeps the prawn from tightening, which is why these stay plump where a bare prawn in a hot sauce goes rubbery.
- KETCHUP IS NOT A SHORTCUT HERE, it is the recipe. Its sweetness and acidity are a deliberate part of the balance -- this is a Japanese dish built on a Chinese one and the ketchup is the adaptation.
- Doubanjiang brings the heat and the salt, and a single tablespoon is enough; it is very strong.
- Rinse the peeled prawns in salted water, then in starch and water, and dry them well. That takes off the surface slime and is the difference between clean-tasting and muddy.
- Toss with the egg white, starch, sake and salt and rest 20 minutes in the fridge.
- FRY THE PRAWNS BRIEFLY AND LIFT THEM OUT. 60 to 90 seconds in medium oil, until just turning pink but not cooked through. They go back at the end.
- Aromatics in the same oil, 30 seconds. Doubanjiang in, 1 minute, pressed against the pan until the oil runs red.
- Ketchup in and fried 1 minute so it darkens and loses its raw edge.
- Stock, sugar, sake and vinegar in. Simmer 2 minutes, then thicken with the slaked starch.
- Prawns back in for 30 seconds only, folded through. Spring onion off the heat.
Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.
Filed under Japan · All recipes