Honey Prawns - stays crispy for ages!

Name: Honey Prawns - stays crispy for ages!
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Yield: 4 serving
Ingredients: 300g/ 10oz prawns/shrimp; 1/2 tsp kosher/cooking salt; 1/2 cup cornflour/cornstarch; 9 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch; 6 tbsp flour; 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp salt; 2/3 cup + 1 tbsp COLD soda water, club soda or seltzer water; 3 - 4 cups vegetable or canola oil; 1/3 cup (100g) honey; 1.5 tbsp (25g) glucose OR corn syrup (light); 1 tbsp light soy sauce; 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine; 25g / 2 oz Vermicelli rice noodles (optional); Sesame seeds, finely sliced green onions

User Reviews

5.0

69 reviews

Excellent

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Cooling
20 mins
Servings
4
Calories
482 kcal
Course
Main Course
Cuisine
Chinese

Honey Prawns - stays crispy for ages!

Kai Walton

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Recipe video above. A recipe for old school Chinese restaurant style Honey Prawns! This recipe uses a proven method used in my Honey Chicken recipe for Honey Prawns that stays crispy hours even after coating in the sauce!1. Double coating - cornflour/cornstarch to seal in juices, followed by batter.2. Cold batter made with soda water = crispier coating that's puffy and light, not dense and greasy.3. Cornflour/cornstarch + flour batter - cornflour for ultra crispiness, flour for golden colour.4. Double fry for extra long lasting, thicker crispiness AND less greasy (Asian secret!).5. No-soggy Sauce - glucose or corn syrup to make it "candy like" to stick on the prawn crust rather than soaking in, plus NO WATER in the sauce.Note - the sauce is sweet. That's the way it's supposed to be! But not as sickly sweet as many Chinese restaurants tend to be. Please do not try to change the sauce as it has been formulated to prevent making the batter soggy.

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Ingredients

Servings

Prawns

300g/ 10oz prawns/shrimp , peeled with tail on (600g/1.2lb whole unpeeled) (Note 1)
1/2 tsp kosher/cooking salt (halve for table salt)

Dredging:

1/2 cup cornflour/cornstarch

Ultra-crispy fry batter:

9 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch (Note 2)
6 tbsp flour , plain/all-purpose
1/2 tsp baking powder (NOT baking soda)
1/2 tsp salt , kosher/cooking (halve for table salt)
2/3 cup + 1 tbsp COLD soda water, club soda or seltzer water (NOT sparkling mineral water, Note 3)

Oil, for frying:

3 - 4 cups vegetable or canola oil (~4cm / 1.5" depth in a pot)

Honey Sauce (Note 8 on sweetness):

1/3 cup (100g) honey
1.5 tbsp (25g) glucose OR corn syrup (light) (Note 4)
1 tbsp light soy sauce (or all-purpose)
2 tsp Chinese cooking wine (or mirin)

Garnish / serving:

25g / 2 oz Vermicelli rice noodles (optional) , a wad of it (not mung bean noodles, it must be rice noodles)
Sesame seeds, finely sliced green onions

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Instructions

Season and dust prawns:

Salt prawns: Mix prawns with salt. (Don't do this ahead, salt makes prawns sweat = compromise crispy coating!)
Dust: Place 1/2 cup cornflour/cornstarch in a bowl. Dip prawn in, shake off excess then put on a plate. Repeat with all prawns.

Cold batter and fry #1:

Chill dry ingredients: Whisk together flour, cornflour/cornstarch, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Place in fridge while oil heats up. (Helps keep batter cold, cold batter = crispier prawns)
Heat oil: Fill small pot or large saucepan with 4cm / 1.7" oil. Heat to 160°C/320°F on medium high stove.
Make cold batter: When the oil is near target temp, add soda water into the dry ingredients. Then do the minimum whisks to just combine (10 or so) - a few lumps ok, better than whisking too much (changes coating texture).
Batter thickness: Should fully coat prawns easily, not be see-through, but not thick and heavy. See video at 38 seconds for cues. Use extra soda water 1 teaspoon at a time to achieve right thickness.
Dredge: Holding a prawn by the tail, dip into the batter then hold up for a 2 seconds to let the excess batter drip off. Then carefully place in oil. Repeat with another 5 prawns (6 per batch).
3 minutes Fry #1: Cook for 3 minutes until light golden and crispy. When you pick them up, you can tell it's very crispy.
Drain and repeat: Place prawns on a tray with paper towels. Repeat with remaining prawns. I cook in 4 batches. Don't crowd the pot as it brings oil temperature down too much.
Cool prawns for 20 minutes (Note 5). Meanwhile, make Sauce.

Honey Sauce:

Simmer: Place ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to simmer, turn down stove to medium low then leave to simmer for 3 minutes.
Syrupy consistency: The consistency should be like maple syrup (see video). Turn off stove, place lid on to keep warm (when cool, it gets too thick to toss prawns in it).

Fry #2 – for ultra-crispy!

Heat oil to 200°C/390°F.
3 minutes Fry #2: Place half the prawns in oil (you can crowd the pot for Fry #2). Cook for 3 minutes or until it changes from pale golden to very golden, then remove to a paper towel-lined plate. You can tell by touching that it's built-to-last crispy! More golden = crispier (but don't overcook the prawns!) Repeat with remaining prawns.

Sauce and serve:

Quickly toss: Transfer prawns to a metal bowl then pour over Honey Sauce. Quickly toss with rubber spatula to coat prawns in sauce. (Sauce starts thickening if you take too long, so be quick!)
Garnish: Pile prawns over crispy rice noodles (if using), scatter with sesame seeds, green onion and serve!

Puffy crispy rice noodles (optional):

At any point while oil is hot, drop a wad of noodles into hot oil, wait 3 seconds until it puffs up, then remove with tongs.
Drain on paper towels, place on plate. Top with prawns! (Note: Crispy noodles stays crispy "forever" so you can do this well ahead. Not for eating - is flavourless.)

Notes

Prawns / shrimp - Raw prawns with tail on are best, medium to large in size. 300g (10oz) of peeled raw shrimp with tails is about 600g (20oz) unpeeled shrimp, about 17 prawns that are 17g each peeled (0.6oz), 34g whole (1.2oz).
Frozen - You can also use jumbo / large frozen raw shrimp, thawed. These tend to leach lots of water when defrosted, so ensure you drain all the liquid off and dry them very well.
Cornflour and cornstarch are the same thing. Called cornstarch in the US and Canada, and cornflour in most of the rest of the world.
Cold soda water, club soda, or seltzer water - It must be fridge cold to ensure crispy coating. Needs to be man-made fizziness to help with the puffiness. Do not use sparkling mineral water (ie naturally fizzy) - it's not as strong. It works but not as crispy.
BEST SUB: Ice cold water. Crispiness not as strong so doesn't last as long once sauced, but still excellent if consumed within 20 minutes.
Glucose or corn syrup (light) - The key to making the honey sauce "toffee-like" so it coats and semi-sets ON the crispy crust rather than soaking INTO it and making it soggy. Both work just as well.
Find glucose in the baking aisle. Corn syrup is not widely available in Australia - I order it online. Substitute with honey (it does work for crispiness retention, glucose/corn syrup is an extra insurance policy!)
Let prawns cool after first fry = crispier crust once double fried. I don't know the exact science, I presume it's like cold batter = crispier prawns! It is still very crispy if fried the second time straight away however.
Double fry - Makes the coating ultra crisp AND less greasy, and deepens from pale gold colour to golden. Also means all prawns are piping hot when tossed in sauce.
Can skip - if so, do Fry 1 for 4 minutes until golden. Keep cooked prawns warm in 75°C/165°F oven on rack.
Air fryer / baking - baking definitely won't work for this batter. I doubt air fryer would work either because you need instant high heat to solidify the batter, otherwise it will run everywhere.
I will share best baked alternative one day :)
SWEETNESS - Honey Prawns IS very sweet. That's why all kids go mad over it! But the quantity of the sauce in the recipe is such that there is only a thin coating on each piece of prawns.
We can't detect anything in the sauce at restaurants other than honey and a bit of seasoning, eg nothing sour to balance out the sweet. So I've stuck with restaurant versions so your kids won't be disappointed. 😂 (PS I am a savoury rather than sweet girl, and I am mad for this Honey Prawns!)
SAVOURY TOUCH: For those who really want less sweet, add 2 tbsp cider vinegar and simmer for an extra 1 minute, and also maybe a dash of hot sauce or sriracha. It will not taste like restaurant versions, but will seem less sweet.
Please do NOT start adding things like ketchup and other things you see in other recipes as it will put the crispiness of the prawns at risk - the sauce as written almost "sets" on the surface of the crust, rather than soaking in.
Make ahead - the ultimate way to make ahead which is 90% perfect:
Reheating prawns with sauce already on it - it's got crunchy bits when cold, but as soon as you reheat it (oven or microwave), it goes soggy. No way around it I'm afraid!
Reuse oil - Oil used to fry any seafood takes on a bit of a seafood flavour, albeit fairly mild in this instance. I would only re-use the oil to make other seafood things, such as Beer Battered Fish or Coconut Prawns.
Cool oil in pot, line mesh colander with paper towel, strain oil. Store until required - personally would stick to savoury rather than sweet.
An original creation by Team RTE, drawing on many lessons learned during the creation of the Built-To-Last Honey Chicken!
Nutrition - impossible for this one, I'm afraid! Let's just say it's got more calories than a lettuce leaf. :)
Double fry the prawns. Fully cool. Reheat in 180°C/350°F oven for 5 - 7 minutes. just to heat prawns through and make the coating crispy again.
Reheat Honey Sauce so it's runny. Toss with prawns, serve!

Nutrition Information

Show Details

Calories 482cal (24%) Carbohydrates 42g (14%) Protein 16g (32%) Fat 28g (43%) Saturated Fat 2g (10%) Polyunsaturated Fat 8g Monounsaturated Fat 18g Trans Fat 1g Cholesterol 121mg (40%) Sodium 933mg (39%) Potassium 279mg (8%) Fiber 1g (4%) Sugar 23g (46%) Vitamin C 1mg (1%) Calcium 74mg (7%) Iron 1mg (6%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 4Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 482 kcal

% Daily Value*

Calories	482cal	24%
Carbohydrates	42g	14%
Protein	16g	32%
Fat	28g	43%
Saturated Fat	2g	10%
Polyunsaturated Fat	8g	47%
Monounsaturated Fat	18g	90%
Trans Fat	1g	50%
Cholesterol	121mg	40%
Sodium	933mg	39%
Potassium	279mg	6%
Fiber	1g	4%
Sugar	23g	46%
Vitamin C	1mg	1%
Calcium	74mg	7%
Iron	1mg	6%