Fried Prawns With Salted Egg Yolk

Ahh… salted egg yolk, my love! How are you? Long time no eat you! Hahaha 😀 When it comes to salted egg yolk in Chinese dishes, the most obvious choice is the partnering of prawn with this sinful duck egg. And the favorite way to cook it is either with butter or kam heong style (butter+curry leaves+chilies+garlic). For this post, I’m attempting the second salted egg featured recipe from Flavours magazine which utilizes the butter style.

Super duper yummy!

First, clean and devein 10 large prawns.

Next skewer the prawns with bamboo toothpicks. Then marinate it with egg white, cornstarch, concentrated chicken stock, sugar and salt. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, steamed salted egg yolks for 7 minutes.
Read this guide if you do not know how to clean salted duck egg.

Roughly mashed with a fork while hot.

Now heat oil in wok over medium heat.

Fry prawns for 2 minutes.

Carefully remove the toothpicks. Make sure you don’t remove the prawn heads accidentally.

Next, melt butter over low heat.

Mix in the mashed salted egg yolks and cook until it forms a smooth paste. Then add beaten egg and stir continuously until egg mixture turns lumpy.

Lastly add fried prawns and toss to coat. I dare not toss too much as the prawn heads is coming loose. That’s it.

Absolutely yummy!

The fried prawns itself is very delicious and aromatic. Together with salted egg yolks… WOW! And together with the prawn heads… more WOW! I licked the plate clean when no one was watching! This dish can be a stand alone dish or as side dish. It’s a perfect Har-Har (happy; Har is prawn in Cantonese) dish for Chinese New Year.

Three things though, I find the salted egg yolks quantity to be a little too much. Maybe 4 salted eggs will do. Also as I did not toss the prawns and salted egg properly (fearing the heads might come off), I find the salted egg didn’t stick well to the prawn. More importantly, rather than reducing the number of salted egg yolks, I suggest to increase the number of prawns. Believe me, 10 prawns ain’t enough even for 2 people.

If you want to cook prawn in kam heong style, you can easily modify the Kam Heong Crispy Lotus Root With Salted Egg Yolk recipe.

Fried Prawns With Salted Egg Yolk
Adapted from Flavours magazine (May-June 2011)
Serves 2-3

10 large prawns, deveined and skewered with bamboo toothpicks to straighten the prawns

Marinade
1 egg white
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon concentrated chicken stock (I used anchovies stock)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
60g butter
6 salted egg yolks, steamed for 7 minutes and roughly mashed while hot
1 egg, beaten

Method:
1. Combine prawns and marinade ingredients. Marinate for an hour in the fridge.

2. Over medium heat, add oil in a wok or pan. Fry prawns for about 2 or more minutes.

3. Set aside and remove toothpicks from the cooked prawns.

4. Over low heat, melt butter in the wok/pan. Add mashed salted egg yolks and cook until it forms a foamy paste.

5. Add beaten egg and stir continuously until it turns lumpy.

6. Lastly, add cooked prawns and toss to coat with the salted egg yolks mixture. Serve warm with a bowl of rice.