Honey Prawns - stays crispy for ages!
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
10 mins
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Cook Time
20 mins
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Cooling
20 mins
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Servings
4
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Calories
482 kcal
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
Chinese
Honey Prawns - stays crispy for ages!
Description
Honey Prawns - stays crispy for ages! combines medium to large peeled prawns coated with a chilled batter composed of cornflour, flour, baking powder, salt, and cold soda water. The batter's coldness helps keep the crust crisp after frying. Prawns are double fried: first at a controlled temperature to cook through and crisp the coating, then cooled before a second frying to deepen the golden color and enhance crispness. The resulting crust is light and crunchy.
The honey sauce, made of honey, glucose (or light corn syrup), soy sauce, and Chinese cooking wine, is warmed and then tossed with the fried prawns. Glucose helps the sauce semi-set on the crust without soaking it, maintaining the crispiness. Optional garnishes include thin vermicelli rice noodles, sliced green onion, and sesame seeds.
This dish balances a sweet glaze with a crispy texture, and the double frying technique reduces greasiness. It's best consumed soon after preparation to enjoy the crunch. The recipe advises against substituting sparkling mineral water in the batter, emphasizing cold soda water for the best puffiness and crispiness. Cooling prawns between fries further improves crunch.
Glucose or light corn syrup is key to retaining the honey sauce on the crust, preventing sogginess. Variations to reduce sweetness involve adding cider vinegar and hot sauce, but this alters the typical restaurant-style flavor. Leftovers with sauce lose crispiness upon reheating, so it's best to reheat prawns and sauce separately or consume promptly.
Ingredients
Prawns
- 300g/ 10oz prawns peeled with tail on (600g/1.2lb whole unpeeled) (Note 1, or shrimp
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt halve for table salt, or cooking salt
Dredging:
- 1/2 cup cornflour or cornstarch
Ultra-crispy fry batter:
- 9 tbsp cornflour Note 2, or cornstarch
- 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 soda water NOT sparkling mineral water, Note 3, cold, or club soda or seltzer water
Oil, for frying:
- 3 - 4 cups vegetable oil ~4cm / 1.5" depth in a pot, or canola oil
Honey Sauce (Note 8 on sweetness):
- 1/3 cup (100g) honey
- 1.5 tbsp (25g) glucose Note 4, or light corn syrup
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or all-purpose, light
- 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine (or mirin)
Garnish / serving:
- 25g / 2 oz vermicelli rice noodles a wad of it (not mung bean noodles, it must be rice noodles, optional
- sesame seeds green onions finely sliced
- green onion green onions finely sliced
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
- Use raw prawns peeled with tail on for best texture; thaw and dry frozen prawns thoroughly before use.
- Keep soda water cold for batter to maintain crispness; do not substitute with naturally sparkling mineral water.
- Double frying the prawns and allowing them to cool between fries enhances crunch and reduces greasiness.
- Glucose or light corn syrup in the honey sauce helps it semi-set on the prawn coating to preserve crispiness; substituting with honey alone reduces this effect.
- Consume the dish soon after tossing in sauce; reheating prawns with sauce leads to sogginess.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition 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% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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