Stir-Fried Prawns (Shrimp) – Sri Lankan Style.

“Why haven’t you cooked the colourful prawns for so long?”

The question had me stumped. Indeed, why? It must have been at least 1½ - 2 years since I cooked the dish. I probably cook Ceylonese Cuisine twice a month, but with my cooking so many different dishes from around the world, I guess it is easy to forget individual dishes. So, the items went onto the shopping list for last weekend.

So, Are They Prawns or Shrimp? Scampi Anyone?

If you do a search, you will see that actually prawns and shrimp are biologically different. A good resource is the website for Museum Victoria which states “Prawns, most of which belong to the family Penaeidae of the group Dendrobranchiata, have all the abdominal side plates overlapping tile-like from the front.”

So, now you know. However, we tend to use the terms interchangeably and preference is based on where you come from. Americans generally refer to them as shrimp, whilst in the U.K. and Australia for example, they are called prawns.

And Scampi? Someone found out that the Italians refer to Dublin Bay prawns as scampi, and decided that it would be elegant to call prawns or shrimp scampi. Might as well confuse everyone while we’re at it.

In any event, if I refer to prawns here, you know I also mean shrimp.

What Type Of Prawns Or Shrimp Are Best?

I like to use either Tiger Prawns or White Prawns. The size is actually more important to me. I find that large prawns tend to be much firmer in texture and if you are eating an Asian style meal with a spoon and fork, cutting through the larger prawns with a spoon can be a challenge, requiring use of a knife if you are to preserve any sense of elegance. With smaller prawns, you do not have this problem.

The supermarkets here sell Tiger Prawns as ‘Jumbo’ for the largest grade, ‘Big’ for the next and ‘medium’ for a smaller size. This seems to be an in-house thing and what looks like ‘medium’ can sometimes be labeled as ‘large’.

I go for ‘medium’ for Asian meals, as this is the right size to get tender cooked prawns, and ‘Big’ or ‘Jumbo’ for Western meals.

Anyway, on the day in question, they only had ‘Jumbo’ and ‘Big’ available, so I opted for the smaller specimens in ‘Big’. To no avail, the finished dish was a little too firm for my liking; they would have made a great Garithes Youvetsi though.

As a guide, ‘Big’ were 7 - 8 / pound or about 17 / kilo, even though we selected the smaller ones. I would have preferred a size of about 10 – 12 / pound or 22 – 25 / kilo.

I should have gone for the smaller white prawns, but as you can see from the photograph in the recipe, the Tigers were too lovely to resist.

Preparation – Shell On or Shell Off

I remove the shells, but leave the tail segment on for visual appeal. I do freeze the shells for Penang Prawn mee (noodles), but that is a story for another day. You can just remove the shells completely if you wish.

If you prefer prawns with shells on, or if you like eating the heads, by all means leave the shells on. You will need to cook a little longer, and the flesh will not be as spicy as shell off, but there are always the onions, garlic, chillies and tomatoes to give flavour and spice to it.

Texture of Ingredients

This is one dish where I like to have a lot of texture to complement the rich colours, so nothing is cut finely or pounded to a fine paste. The red chillies must be pounded coarsely, and anything sliced will be sliced thickly.

Cooking The Dish.

If you have never cooked a high heat stir-fry, then I would like to point out a couple of basic rules for success.

Firstly, have all the ingredients lined up close at hand, in the order in which you will add them. Plus, the plate or dish you will serve the food in.

Secondly, this is one cooking technique that requires your constant attention. Leave for a while and your reward is burnt food.

The technique is not complicated, just constant tossing and stirring. A wok or high sided pan with a sturdy handle will make the tossing and frying easier. Indeed, if you watch the food vendors in Asia doing a stir-fry, it is a treat in itself - high heat and fast action.

And if you get overwhelmed along the way, lower the heat or remove the wok from the stove until you are back in control. It is preferable to burning the food, and the next time you will be better at it. Like anything else, the more you do it, the better you get.

Serving Suggestions

I serve this hot, with Jasmine or Basmati rice. You will want at least one or two other dishes with some gravy, otherwise the meal will be too dry. Think of this as a dish in Ceylonese Banana Leaf Cuisine and your choices will be obvious.

And yes, whilst the fried prawns we got from the restaurants when I was a kid were usually cold, nothing beats the aroma of hot, freshly fried spicy prawns.

Enjoy!

 

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