Prawn stir-fry with ginger and spring onion
Written by Estelle & Alice for The Wok House
A prawn cooked just right curls into a C. When it closes up into an O, it's too late: it has turned tough. So I sear the prawns halfway, set them aside and only put them back in the wok at the very end, for thirty seconds under the lid with a splash of Shaoxing wine. Allow half an hour, rice included.
Ginger and spring onion is a classic pairing in Cantonese cooking, which also uses it for crab and lobster. Here it goes with prawns, along with a little soy sauce and white pepper. The ginger and the spring onion whites flavour the oil first, and the greens only go in at the end so they keep their colour. Serve the prawns with jasmine rice and, if you'd like a vegetable, a broccoli and cashew stir-fry made before the prawns.
Ginger and spring onion prawns (jiang cong xia)
Raw prawns seared in batches in the wok, then finished for thirty seconds under the lid with ginger, spring onion, Shaoxing rice wine and white pepper.
For 3 to 6 people, use a 32cm wok with a lid. The prawns go in 2 or 3 batches, then they all fit together under the lid.
Ingredients
For the rice
For the prawns
For the aromatics
For the seasoning
For cooking
Equipment
- 32cm carbon steel wok with a lid
- Wok spatula
- Saucepan with a lid for the rice
- Kitchen paper
- A small bowl and a glass
Method
Start the rice
The rice goes first: it cooks and rests while you prepare the prawns. Rinse 300g jasmine rice in a sieve under cold water until the water runs almost clear. Put it in a saucepan with 450ml water, bring to the boil, then cover and cook for 12 minutes over a very low heat. Turn off the heat and leave it to rest for 10 minutes without lifting the lid.
Peel the prawns
If the prawns are frozen, thaw them the day before in the fridge, or for 10 to 15 minutes in a sealed freezer bag dipped in cold water. Remove the shells (you can leave the tip of the tail on), then cut along the full length of the back with a small knife and pull out the black vein, which is the intestine. If you bought them peeled, just check there's no vein left.
Salt and dry
In a bowl, mix the prawns with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda, then leave them in the fridge for 15 minutes. The bicarbonate gives them a firmer texture with a slight bite. Then spread them out on kitchen paper and pat them dry on both sides: they should feel dry to the touch.
Cut the aromatics
Meanwhile, peel the ginger and cut it into thin slices. Cut the spring onions into 5cm lengths, keeping the whites and greens separate; halve any thick whites lengthways. Break the chillies in half. In a small bowl, mix 2 tsp soy sauce and ½ tsp white pepper, and measure 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine into a glass: the final stage goes very quickly.
Sear the prawns
Heat the wok over a high heat until it is lightly smoking. Sear the prawns in 2 batches: for each batch, add 1 tablespoon of oil and spread the prawns out in a single layer. They should sizzle loudly as soon as they touch the wok. Leave them for 40 seconds without touching them, turn them and give them 20 seconds: they're pink underneath but still translucent in the middle. Set them aside on a plate and let the wok smoke again before the next batch.
The aromatics
Keep the heat high. Add 1 tbsp oil to the wok, add the ginger and stir-fry for 20 seconds, until the edges of the slices start to turn golden. Add the spring onion whites and the chillies and stir-fry for another 10 seconds, without letting the chillies blacken.
Thirty seconds under the lid
Return the prawns and their juices to the wok and stir-fry for 10 seconds. Pour the Shaoxing wine in a thin stream down the hot sides of the wok, cover straight away and cook for 30 seconds over a high heat without lifting the lid: the steam from the wine cooks the prawns through.
Season
Take off the lid. Add the spring onion greens and the soy sauce and pepper mixture, then stir-fry for 20 to 30 seconds, until the greens have just wilted. The prawns are cooked when they're pink, opaque and curled into a C; closed into an O, they're overcooked. If some are still translucent in the middle, give them 30 seconds more. Taste one and add a pinch of salt if needed.
Serve
Fluff up the rice with a fork and divide it between bowls. Give the prawns a last stir and serve straight away, with the juices left in the wok: if you leave them in the hot wok, they keep cooking.
Wok tips
- A wet prawn makes the temperature of the wok drop: it releases its water and boils instead of searing, then turns rubbery before it has taken on any colour. Pat the prawns dry and wait for the light smoke before each batch. If they barely hiss when they touch the metal, the batch is too big or the wok isn't hot enough.
- On an induction or ceramic hob, let the wok heat for 2 minutes at full power before the first batch, then 30 seconds between batches. Keep it on the hob and stir with the spatula: a wok you lift to toss loses contact and cools down. On these hobs, a flat base heats far better than a round one.
- The lid matters: in 30 seconds, the steam from the wine cooks the prawns through and flavours the juices. Without a lid, the wine evaporates at once and you have to cook for longer, which dries out the prawns. A sauté pan lid will do if it fits the wok well; if not, see our woks with lids.
- A seared prawn comes away on its own after 30 to 40 seconds: don't turn it before then. If it stays stuck, the wok was too cool or its patina is still fragile. A new carbon steel wok sticks less after a few cooks with oil.
Variations
- Without Shaoxing wine: the same amount of dry sherry, or sake. Shaoxing wine is sold in Asian supermarkets and sometimes in the world foods aisle of large supermarkets.
- With the shells on: use 600g raw prawns with the heads removed, snip along the back of the shells with scissors to remove the vein and sear them for 1 minute on each side, without salting them in advance. The shell keeps the juices in and adds more flavour; you peel them at the table.
- With a sauce: mix 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 4 tablespoons of water, ½ teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cornflour. Pour in this mixture, well stirred, after the lid stage, instead of the soy sauce, and stir-fry until it coats the prawns.
- With bulb spring onions: the larger spring onions with a round bulb, sold in bunches, are cut the same way, stems included. Slice the bulbs and stir-fry them with the ginger.
Storage
These prawns are best eaten straight from the wok: reheated, they toughen. If there are any left, keep them for 24 hours at most in the fridge, in an airtight container, then warm them for 1 minute in the hot wok with 1 tablespoon of water, without trying to cook them again. Keep the rice separately.
The Shirane Japanese Wok
Carbon steel, Ø 32cm, free lid
Frequently asked questions
Are ginger and spring onion prawns a Thai dish?
No. Ginger, spring onion, Shaoxing wine, white pepper and soy sauce: this is a Cantonese stir-fry. A Thai prawn recipe would be more likely to use fish sauce, lemongrass or basil.
Can I use cooked prawns?
Raw prawns are better: already cooked through, they toughen over a high heat. If that's all you have, don't salt them or sear them. Stir-fry the aromatics, add the prawns with the wine, cover for 20 seconds to warm them through, then season.
What can I use instead of Shaoxing wine to cook without alcohol?
The same amount of chicken stock, or water. It's worth swapping if you cook without alcohol: in 30 seconds under the lid, the alcohol doesn't fully evaporate. The steam cooks the prawns the same way; you only lose the aroma of the wine.
Can I make this recipe on induction?
Yes, with a flat-bottomed wok that works on induction, preheated for 2 minutes at full power. Keep it on the hob throughout cooking and stick to the batches: on induction, only the base of the wok heats up.
